Toyota and Honda Gaining U.S. Retail Market Share in Early September

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.--Sept. 15, 2005--Toyota Motor Sales USA, American Honda and Nissan North America are all gaining retail market share in early September, according to the Power Information Network (PIN).

Through the first 11 days of September, the top six multi-franchise manufacturers in the United States are, in descending order, General Motors (19.1% of the retail industry), Ford Motor Company (17.3%), Toyota Motor Sales USA (15.5%), American Honda (13.2%), DaimlerChrysler (12.7%), and Nissan North America (8.0%).

Toyota Motor's retail share is up almost two points from a year ago and sufficient to catapult the company into third place based on this measure. American Honda's retail share jumped 2.7 points from a year ago and it also gained share versus August. Nissan North America also improved, climbing more than a point from a year ago. In contrast, GM, Ford Motor Company and DaimlerChrysler have all lost retail share versus a year ago, although GM has improved versus this past August.

"Now that the impact of the employee price discount programs have faded, and gas prices have escalated dramatically in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we are seeing a strengthening of the trends that existed back in the spring," said Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis at the Power Information Network. "Customers are moving to smaller vehicles--both smaller SUVs and smaller cars--and this is playing to the strengths of the offshore-based manufacturers and hurting the domestics, which have relied, to a greater extent, on the larger vehicles."

PIN transaction data shows that new-vehicle retail sales over the first 11 days of September have moved in the same general direction as market share. Nissan North America, American Honda and Toyota Motor Sales are all enjoying sales gains versus a year ago, while GM, Ford Motor Company and DaimlerChrysler deliveries are slipping. Overall new-vehicle retail sales are down 12 percent through the first 11 days of September versus a strong September performance in 2004 (on a selling day adjusted basis).

The domestics have lost ground even though overall new-vehicle prices have been declining. The average new-vehicle transaction price (less customer cash rebate) in the first 11 days of September dropped 3 percent to $25,160 from $25,971 in August. This is down 1 percent compared to a year ago when prices averaged $25,338.

"Clearly, the weakening of the market that set in last month is continuing into September," said Bob Schnorbus, chief economist at J.D. Power and Associates. "If the current pattern in the daily year-over-year sales rates continues over the remainder of the month, the retail seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) for the month at roughly 12.7 million units would be among the weakest we've seen this year. Damage from Hurricane Katrina is undoubtedly still dragging retail sales down in September, although the impact may be easing from the initial impacts on daily sales in the closing days of August."

How well the month as a whole does will depend on the strength of fleet sales, which have been relatively robust so far in 2005. Nonetheless, overall sales for the month are expected to experience their second consecutive decline since reaching a near-record 20.6 million-unit SAAR in July of 2005.

About Power Information Network (PIN)

PIN's automotive solutions are based on the collection and analysis of daily new- and used-vehicle retail transaction information from more than 10,000 automotive dealership franchises in North America. PIN's industry-leading automotive solutions incorporate consumer demand and sales information to improve business for automotive dealers, manufacturers, lenders, and other companies in the industry. Additional information is available at www.powerinfonet.com

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.