GM holds off Toyota in June U.S. auto sales

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Toyota's U.S. sales fell 21.4 per cent, while Ford Motor Co. saidit sales tumbled nearly 28 per cent. Chrysler LLC took a huge hitfor the month with sales down 35.9 per cent.
GM's shares bounced more than two per cent higher in late tradingTuesday after sinking to their lowest level in more than a halfcentury during Monday's session.
The country's biggest automaker on Tuesday reported selling 262,329vehicles for the month, compared with Toyota's 193,234. Someindustry analysts had expected Toyota to beat GM in the U.S. forthe first time, but both companies were hurt by a sluggish economyand poor sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles.
Toyota car sales fell 9.4 per cent in June while its truck saleswere off 38.8 per cent.
GM's car sales sank 21 per cent in June, while itsincentive-boosted truck sales were off 16 per cent.
For the first half of the year, GM sales fell 16.3 per centcompared with the year-ago period. Toyota sales were down 6.8 percent for the first six months of the year.
Toyota took the global sales lead from General Motors in the firstquarter, capitalizing on growth in China and Europe as GM saw itsNorth American sales drag down gains in other markets. GM barelywon the global sales race with Toyota last year, but Toyotaovertook it as the world's top automaker as measured by globalvehicle production in 2007.
To help boost sales, Chrysler said it would extend its US$2.99 pergallon gasoline price guarantee through July 31. The guaranteelasts for three years, with Chrysler paying the difference between$2.99 and the pump price for 19,300 kilometres per year. It hadbeen scheduled to expire July 7.
Even with the promotion, which had been in effect since early May,Chrysler's car sales were off 48.5 per cent, while truck sales weredown 30.1 per cent.
The company said in a statement the down sales figures reflect acontracting market, especially for pickup trucks and SUVs, andcontinued reductions in fleet sales.
Honda Motor Co., with its car-heavy lineup, was the only majorautomaker to report a sales increase in June, a modest 1.1 percent. A 19.3 per cent rise in car sales offset a 24 per cent dropin trucks.
But Ford, still reliant on trucks and sport utility vehicles, sawits sales drop 27.9 per cent.
Nissan Motor Co. also reported a bad month, with sales off 17.8 percent. The Japanese automaker saw truck sales plunge 36.1 per centand car sales fall 7.4 per cent.
Industry analysts had predicted June auto sales could drop bydouble-digits to their lowest monthly rate in 16 years.
Dearborn-based Ford blamed the latest sales decline on high gasprices and low consumer confidence, which sent buyers to thesidelines. It reported steep drops in June sales of pickup trucksand sport utility vehicles, including a 41 per cent year-over-yeardecline for the F-Series pickup, a perennial best-seller, and a 52per cent drop for the Ford Explorer SUV.
George Pipas, Ford's top sales analyst, said SUV sales are probablydown for good.
"Our view is that gas prices aren't likely to go down, and moreimportantly, many consumers have moved on," he said. "We believethat the segment has merit for certain consumers but is not likelyto rebound at any point."
For the first half of the year, Ford's sales were down 14 per centcompared with the year-ago period.
U.S. auto sales had already fallen for seven straight months as ofMay, the longest period of consecutive monthly drops in eightyears, according to the auto information website Edmunds.com.
When customers do buy, they're picking smaller cars, crossovers andhybrids.
Ford said sales of its smallest car, the Ford Focus, rose 28 percent in the first six months of the year, although Focus sales fellin June. Pipas blamed the decline on supply problems and a cut insales to fleet buyers.
The automaker said last month it plans to increase production ofthe Focus as well as the Mercury Mariner and Ford Escape smallSUVs.
Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president of North American sales, saidindustry analysts overestimated Toyota's sales and underestimatedGM's.
He said it's not possible to quantify exactly how much GM'smonth-ending 72-hour sale boosted the June figures, he expects thatGM's sales would have still beaten analysts' estimates even withoutit.
Despite slumping demand for light trucks, LaNeve said GM hasn'tgiven up on selling them.
"We need to run hard, we're going to remain aggressive on the truckside of the market," LaNeve said. "It's still a significant part ofthe market and we're going to try and gain share."
Ford shares sank to a 52-week low of $4.41 early Tuesday butrecovered to finish at $4.71, down 10 cents. They have traded ashigh as $9.64 over the past year.
GM shares rose 25 cents, or 2.2 per cent, to close at $11.75 onTuesday after briefly falling as low as $10.57 during Monday'ssession. That was the lowest level for GM since Sept. 22, 1954,according to the Center for Research in Security Prices at theUniversity of Chicago.
The Associated Press reports unadjusted auto sales figures,calculating the percentage change in the total number of vehiclessold in one month compared with the same month a year earlier. Someautomakers report percentages adjusted for sales days. There were24 sales days last month and 27 in June 2007.