Trucks credited with buoying sales
By Earle Eldridge
USA Today
Ignoring high gas prices and enticed by generous incentives, car buyers flocked to showrooms in May.
Several automakers set sales records, and while some aging big truck models took a hit, sales of newer ones were strong.
Overall, May auto sales increased 3.4 percent from a year ago, beating forecasts and making it the best sales month this year. The boost came from trucks — pickups, sport utility vehicles and minivans. Sales of those rose 4.7 percent, according to Autodata, while car sales fell 1.7 percent.
The seasonally adjusted selling rate in May hit 17.8 million, by far the best this year and well ahead of the 16.6 million cars and trucks sold in 2003.
Gas prices haven't been a factor, says Jim Press of Toyota Motor Sales USA. "We have not seen a major shift to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, and the light truck segment is still showing its strength," he says.
Toyota, including its Lexus luxury brand, was one of May's stars. Its sales rose 8.4 percent, making May the best sales month in Toyota's 47 years in the United States.
Its truck sales were up 9.6 percent, led by a 77 percent increase for the Sienna minivan. Sales of Highlander SUV were up 12.7 percent, and Tacoma pickup, 8.2 percent.
BMW and the Acura and Chrysler brands also recorded their best sales ever.
Nissan, including its Infiniti luxury brand, was up 23.6 percent, helped by improved sales of two new full-size trucks, Armada SUV and Titan pickup.
The strong May results surprised some automakers. As gas prices rose above $2 a gallon, they worried that consumers would shun gas-guzzling trucks. In fact, sales of most large trucks were down in April from a year earlier.
Dealers reported slow sales the first two weeks of May, considered important for gauging vehicle demand for the rest of the year.
Automakers responded to the concern by boosting advertising and raising incentives. From April 1 through May 16, the average incentive on full-size SUVs rose 26 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the Power Information Network, an affiliate of J.D. Power and Associates.
Incentives show little sign of easing. General Motors, whose sales rose 2.6 percent in May, yesterday announced a $5,000 rebate offer on certain models to current GM owners.
"We don't expect that we will replicate in the coming months what we did in May," says GM sales analyst Paul Ballew.
An exception to the May good news was Ford Motor, whose sales were off 3.3 percent. Ford blamed its less generous incentives and strong May 2003 sales, which were hard to top.
