Sales of U.S.-Made Cars Rise Healthy 6% in ’88
DETROIT — Hurt by stronger Japanese and German currencies that forced up prices in this country, sales of imported cars dropped by 2.9% in 1988, while U.S.-built models showed a robust 6% rise, the auto industry reported Thursday.
Total new car sales in the United States rose 3.3% from 1987, but the imports’ share of the market shrank to 28.9% from 30.8%.
The yearly totals were helped by a strong 4.2% sales gain in December, with domestic sales up 11.7% and imports off 10%. Domestic sales were especially robust in the last 10 days of December, with sales up a whopping 29.9% from a relatively weak Dec. 21-31 period of 1987.
Analysts said the surge in domestic sales appears to signal a major victory for the Big Three auto makers in their long battle with the imports.
“Import prices have gone up, and quality has improved on the domestic side,” said Thomas O’Grady, an industry analyst at Integrated Automotive Resources in Wayne, Pa. “This has narrowed the gap and has made domestics and imports more competitive.”
But analysts noted that some of the increase in domestic sales is accounted for by production of Japanese cars at plants in the United States. These cars are counted as domestic models in industry statistics.
Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., which has expanded production at its Kentucky plant, recorded a 60.8% rise in sales last year. Honda of America had an 18.3% sales increase.
Of the Big Three auto makers, Chrysler had the greatest sales increase--up 10.1% from 1987. The other two--Ford and General Motors--saw increases of 8.8% and 2.1%, respectively.
Chrysler Has a Good Year
“(Chrysler) had a lot of changeover last year,” he said, explaining that Chrysler had retooled two plants in order to produce a redesigned New Yorker and the new Dynasty model. “This year they . . . gained back production as well as new car lines. They actually should do even better in 1989.”
Executives from the U.S. companies said they were pleased with the 1988 results, and they forecast greater gains in 1989.
“For the whole year, sales were satisfactory,” Chrysler President Bob Lutz said. “Chrysler had a good year in 1988; this was the first time we sold a million cars and trucks each. We’re looking for a good 1989.”
Truck sales provided a significant boost for the Big Three. Domestic truck sales leaped 10.3% in 1988. Imports, on the hand, dropped 19.6%.
Total truck sales rose 4.8%.
Two pickup trucks, the Ford F Series and Chevrolet’s CK Series, were the top sellers of 1988, with sales of 539,432 and 472,251, respectively. The Ford Escort, with sales of 387,815 last year, was the most popular individual model.
1988 AUTO SALES
% Total for 1988 change GM 3,641,542 +2.1 Ford 2,205,336 +8.8 Chrysler 1,062,782 +10.1 Honda US 375,625 +18.3 Nissan US 112,125 -6.6 VW US* 24,939 -55.7 Toyota US 72,354 +60.8 Mazda US 31,331 +1,773.3 Domestic 7,526,034 +6.0 Toyota Imp. 616,529 +5.3 Nissan Imp. 360,745 -12.2 Honda Imp. 393,360 -7.0 Mazda 224,719 +8.5 Subaru 155,956 -12.4 VW Imp. 132,944 +1.1 Volvo 97,848 -7.2 Hyundai 264,287 -0.1 Mitsubishi 70,085 +2.8 Others* 784,237 -4.4 Imports* 3,064,700 -2.9 Total US 10,590,734 +3.3
* Estimate
