DETROIT — New-vehicle sales rose 17 percent in January, automakers said Tuesday, led by pickup trucks and other big profitable vehicles even as gasoline prices increased. þþEvery manufacturer but one, Mazda, reported an increase from January 2010, and General Motors posted its highest market share in more than two years. The industry’s seasonally adjusted, annualized selling rate climbed to 12.6 million, the highest since August 2009. þþ“We’re off to a good start for 2011,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president for industry trends and insight at TrueCar.com, which tracks sales and prices. “Gas prices rose quite a bit in the last few months, but that hasn’t deterred people from buying larger vehicles.” þþSales were up 23 percent for G.M., 23 percent for Chrysler and 13 percent for the Ford Motor Company, which eliminated two of its four brands, Mercury and Volvo. þþToyota’s sales rose 17 percent from January 2010, when it had to temporarily stop selling eight popular models to fix defective accelerator pedals. Still, its performance fell short of analysts’ expectations, signaling continued difficulty as the company tries to regain the momentum and market share it lost last year. þþToyota was the only major carmaker to sell fewer vehicles last month than it did in January 2009, in the heart of the recession. It announced a new round of incentives, including no-interest financing and down-payment assistance, and a new ad campaign to begin this month. þþBut Toyota is among those benefiting from surging demand for trucks, a positive sign for the nation’s economic recovery. Toyota said it sold 56 percent more of its Tundra pickup than it did a year ago. þþSales of light trucks, a label that includes pickups, sport utility vehicles, crossover vehicles and minivans, were up at least 35 percent at Toyota, Chrysler, Honda and Nissan. G.M. and Ford each reported increases of about 30 percent in pickup truck sales. þþEmily Kolinski Morris, Ford’s senior United States economist, said numerous economic indicators suggested that automakers would encounter a “favorable business environment in 2011,” though she cautioned that January, typically the worst month of the year for auto sales, “can be difficult to read.” þþTrucks are becoming more popular despite a recent increase in gasoline prices. The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States was $3.101 a gallon this week, 39 cents higher than four months ago, and 44 cents more than a year ago, according to the Energy Information Administration. þþSeveral automakers said they did not expect gas prices to climb significantly in 2011 but said that they were positioned well, with improved small cars, if a large increase occurred. þþFor now, though, they are enjoying the fact that trucks, which carry higher prices and profit margins than most of their other offerings, are in demand. þþIt is particularly good news for Chrysler, which is working to improve its passenger car lineup, but still has a truck-heavy inventory. Sales of its Jeep brand of S.U.V.’s were up 47 percent, but its namesake car brand was down 7 percent. þþ“We have set the foundation for a year of sales growth with our 16 all-new or significantly revamped models for 2011,” Fred Diaz, Chrysler’s lead executive for United States sales and the head of its Ram truck brand, said in a statement. “We have started the year on a strong note, and we intend to continue gaining sales momentum as our new 2011 models hit dealer showrooms during this first quarter.” þþSome analysts expressed concern that G.M.’s sales increase was the product of more discounting, a practice that it and other automakers had been working to reduce. G.M. officials said incentives were $300 higher in January than in December but insisted it was not evidence that the company was resurrecting its bad habits. þþ“We’re not going to return to the days of driving production with incentives,” Don Johnson, G.M.’s vice president for United States sales operations, said. “We know that’s not going to be a recipe for success for us.” þþJanuary’s sales increase after an 11.1 percent gain for the industry in 2010, to 11.6 million vehicles. Carmakers and analysts project sales will rise to more than 13 million in 2011. þþThat is expected to result in bigger profits, especially for the three Detroit carmakers, in the year ahead. þþLast week, Ford reported that it earned $6.6 billion in 2010, the most in 11 years. Its 40,600 hourly workers in the United States are to receive profit-sharing checks that will average $5,000. þþChrysler on Monday said it lost $652 million last year but that its operations were profitable, excluding $1.2 billion in interest payments to the American and Canadian governments. Still, the company said its 22,000 hourly workers in the United States would receive bonuses of $750 each. þþG.M. has not reported its fourth-quarter results. þþ
Source: NY Times
