Auto sales drop for Chrysler, Ford, Toyota

DETROIT — Chrysler LLC, Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Co. each reported sales declines last month, but General Motors Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. surprised industry analysts Tuesday by showing an increase in a declining U.S. auto market.

Toyota's 2.8 percent sales drop, Ford's 14.4 percent decline and Chrysler's 6.1 percent decrease were symptoms of what analysts said would be a slumping U.S. auto market due to high gasoline prices, rising mortgage payments and turmoil in the financial markets.

Ford's drop allowed Toyota to take the No. 2 slot in U.S. auto sales from Ford for August and for the first eight months of the year.

But GM, led by increased pickup truck sales, showed an increase of 6.1 percent, while Nissan Motor Co. reported its sales increased 6.3 percent for August and Honda Motor Co. reported a 4.7 percent increase.

Ford has blamed declining sales through the year on efforts to wean itself of low-profit sales to rental car companies and other fleet buyers. It also said it had heavy incentives that boosted sales last August.

But the automakers' sales analysts said they were being hit by a declining U.S. economy that has rattled consumers.

"Overall, the industry experienced softer sales in August than a year ago," Darryl Jackson, vice president of U.S. sales for Chrysler, said in a statement, adding that Chrysler's fleet sales are down more than 20 percent from the same month last year.

Toyota, with 233,471 vehicles sold in August, beat Ford for the month. The Japanese automaker sold 1.788 million vehicles during the first eight months of the year, edging Ford, which sold 1.784 million. Many analysts have predicted that Toyota will overtake Ford for the No. 2 slot for the full year in 2007.

The Associated Press does not include heavy trucks in Ford's sales figures.

Ford's car sales of 64,864 were off 33.7 percent when compared with the same month last year, while light truck sales, at 152,572, dropped 2.3 percent, the company reported.

In August, sales to individual retail customers were down 13 percent, but daily rental sales dropped 44 percent, the company said.

Ford, which is in the middle of a restructuring plan that will close 16 factories by 2012 and usher thousands of hourly workers out the door with early retirement or buyout plans, saw its sales decline slightly more than 12 percent for the first eight months of the year.