Honda, Nissan Join U.S. Slump as Asian Carmakers Fall (Update1) By Alan Ohnsman and Mike Ramsey
Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., the only big automakers to add U.S. sales through the first eight months of the year, couldn't escape an industrywide plunge in September as the credit crisis deterred buyers. Sales for Asia-based brands fell 30 percent, led by Toyota Motor Corp.'s 32 percent tumble, Honda's 24 percent drop and a 37 percent decrease for Nissan. Toyota and Honda haven't posted declines that large since the 1980s. The results dragged U.S. market share for Japanese and South Korean automakers to the lowest since April 2007 after lenders tightened standards and bank failures chilled demand. Last month's total was 39.9 percent, down from 42.1 percent a year earlier, according to industry-research firm Autodata Corp. ``The best thing we can say about September is it's over,'' Don Esmond, senior vice president of Toyota's U.S. sales unit, said in a conference call yesterday. ``We're seeing buyers on the sidelines, hanging onto their wallets.'' Industrywide sales fell for an 11th straight month, the longest slide in 17 years. Visits to dealerships fell more than 50 percent in the last 10 days of September, after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed and debt markets seized up, said CNW Marketing Research of Bandon, Oregon. Toyota declined 1.6 percent to 4,390 yen as of 9:05 a.m. in Tokyo. Honda dropped 1.6 percent to 3,090 yen and Nissan shed 1.6 percent to 685 yen. Credit Crisis Fallout from the credit crisis overwhelmed the advantages held by the Asian brands through August, when rising fuel prices caused buyers to shun the light trucks of Detroit automakers in favor of the smaller, more-efficient vehicles that dominate Asian brands' lineups. Overall sales of new vehicles dropped 27 percent last month, Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata said. It was the biggest monthly drop since January 1991, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank in Southfield, Michigan. Billionaire Warren Buffett, the world's preeminent stock picker, said the U.S. economy is ``flat on the floor'', in a television interview with Charlie Rose that was to air late yesterday on PBS. Economic Fear ``In my adult lifetime I don't think I've ever seen people as fearful, economically, as they are now,'' said Buffett, chairman of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Toyota, second in U.S. sales behind General Motors Corp., sold 144,260 vehicles, down from 213,042 a year earlier. It was the biggest percentage decline since July 1987, Bob Carter, vice president of the company's U.S. sales unit, said yesterday. Sales fell across the company's Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands, with the exception of two models: the revamped Sequoia and Lexus LX 470 large sport-utility vehicles that have been available for less than a year. Toyota's Esmond said the Toyota City, Japan-based automaker had no plans to further curtail North American output beyond the previously announced production halt for Tundra large pickups and Sequoias from Aug. 8 through November to reduce inventory. U.S. market share for Toyota, Asia's biggest automaker, was 15 percent last month, down from 16.2 percent a year earlier. Honda's Slide ``It's a credit story industrywide,'' said analyst Tom Libby, at market-research firm J.D. Power & Associates in Troy, Michigan. ``There is a psychological impact of all the news about banks in trouble.'' Honda, which hasn't had a full-year U.S. sales decline since 1993, sold 96,626 vehicles, compared with 127,200. The drop was the biggest for the Tokyo-based company since November 1981. ``Customers just weren't coming into dealerships,'' Honda spokesman Chris Martin said in an interview yesterday. Honda's market share last month was 10 percent, up from 9.7 percent a year earlier. Even companies with compelling new products aren't finding buyers, said Jesse Toprak, director of industry analysis for automotive research firm Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, California. ``The main reason for the decline is the lack of consumer confidence,'' Toprak said in an interview. ``A lot of consumers have the ability and desire to make a purchase, but are going to wait and see how things turn out.'' Nissan, Hyundai Nissan, Japan's third-largest carmaker, sold 59,565 autos, compared with 94,269 a year ago. The Rogue small SUV and new GT- R sports coupe were the only models to post gains for the Tokyo- based automaker. The company had 6.2 percent of new-vehicle sales last month, down 1 percentage point from September 2007. Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, reported a 26 percent drop in sales. The Seoul-based company sold 24,765 vehicles, down from 33,214 a year earlier. Hyundai's market share was 2.6 percent, up 0.1 point, Autodata said. Kia Motors Corp., a Hyundai subsidiary, sold 17,383 vehicles, down 28 percent. Ford-affiliated Mazda Motor Corp. said it sold 16,169 autos, a 36 percent decline. Among smaller brands, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru unit had a 12 percent drop. Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s sales fell 39 percent and Suzuki Motor Corp. said its sales dropped 47 percent. To contact the reporters on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Mike Ramsey in Southfield, Michigan at [EMAIL PROTECTED] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
