General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) reported that sales for April dropped from the same period last year as Chrysler continued to have an impressive showing with a 20% gain.
Sales for GM were down 8% to total 213, 387 from April of last year. The CEO attributed this drop to a decline of over 25% in sales of fleets due to timing of deliveries to rental firms, but sales to retail consumers was the same as last year. But GM had a better showing in its new subcompact Chevrolet Sonic which rose to 38% from the same period last year, when Aveo- the model that it replaced was still in the market.
Additionally, sales for the Cadillac CTS sedan car rose another 7%, while the Chevrolet Silverado pickups increased sales by 5% from the same period last year. Analysts keen to know what market share GM holds were of the opinion that it will still be tops but it will have reduced in percentage from 20.1% last year to 17.5%.
In a similar showing, Ford Motor Co. sales reduced 5% when compared to the same period last year. Total sales were 180,350, while in the same period last year, total sales were 189,778. The F-Series pickup was one of the cars that performed well this year with an increase of 4% to reach 47,453, while the Fusion mid-size sedan, best known for its thriftiness on fuel sold 21,610.
Market share for Ford is predicted to be similar to that of the last quarter but if compared to the same period last year, it is expected to move from 16.4% to 15.2%.
However, Chrysler Group painted a different picture from GM, and Ford Motor Co, and had a better showing with sales increasing to 20% from the same period last year. Sales for April totaled 141,165 units, with the Ram Truck, Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler and Fiat all showing an improvement in sales.
In fact, the newly designed Jeep Grand Cherokee had one of its best showing in years, with the Dodge Challenger muscle car, and the Jeep Wrangler also creating new records in sales for the month of April. The Chrysler brand also had a good showing with sales increasing by 56% from the same period last year.
This performance by Chrysler was not new with this being the eleventh month that it was having sales gains of more than 20%. The market share for the company is expected to go in the same direction as sales, and analysts are predicting a rise to 11.5% from 10.2% last year.
Therefore, the month of April had a different showing for these top car makers. However, GM and Ford attributed its fall in market share to the increasing sales being made by Nissan and Toyota, which had a poor showing in April last year after the tsunami and earthquake hit Japan in March last year. In fact, Toyota had a good showing with sales up to 11.6% from the same period last year.
