DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
New-vehicle sales in the U.S. for April are expected to fall 31%
from a year earlier but edge up 0.5% from March as stabilization
appears to continue, according to car-shopping Web site
Edmunds.com.
In addition, Edmunds said that Hyundai Motor Co.'s (005380.SE)
sales in the U.S. will top Nissan Motor Co.'s (NSANY) for the first
time.
Industrywide sales have been tumbling since September as the
U.S. economy worsens, prompting consumers to stop buying big-ticket
items and hindering the financing of new-car purchases. Sales
currently sit near 30-year lows.
Edmunds sees April sales at 859,000 vehicles, in line with a
projection Thursday from J.D. Power and Associates. On a seasonally
adjusted annual rate, April's sales are slated to be about 10
million, said Edmunds, compared with the nearly 9 million rate seen
earlier this year.
"The industry is slowly picking up much-needed momentum, but
there is still a lot of risk," said Jesse Toprak, Edmund's
executive director of industry analysis. "A demand stimulus like a
'cash for clunkers' program could help while an auto maker
bankruptcy could hurt, depending on how consumer confidence is
affected."
Edmunds said the combined monthly market share for Chrysler LLC,
Ford Motor Co. (F) and General Motors Corp. (GM) is expected to be
46%, down from 48% a year ago but up from 45% last month.
For April, which has 26 selling days, Chrysler's sales are seen
plunging 39% from a year ago and 11% from March. Ford's sales are
seen down 27% on the year, but up 11% from March, while General
Motors is expected to be down 36% and up 6.2%, respectively.
The downturn is continuing to hurt once-immune Japanese auto
makers as well, Edmunds said. Toyota Motor Corp.'s (TM) sales are
expected to drop 40% from a year earlier and 1.9% from March, with
Honda Motor Co. (HMC) forecast to post a 27% decline from a year
ago and a 12% increase from March.
Nissan sales are seen falling 27% year-over-year and 17% from
March, while Hyundai sales are seen falling 11% year-over-year and
5.6% from March.
-By Kerry E. Grace, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5089;
kerry.grace@dowjones.com