Apr. 4--U.S. consumers wary of rising gasoline prices gave automakers some bright spots in a mostly downbeat sales picture for the month of March, with fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles and smaller "crossover" SUVs among the biggest gainers year-over-year.
Toyota Motor Sales led the pack among automakers reporting U.S. sales Tuesday, with 242,675 vehicles sold in March, up 7.7 percent from March 2006.
Its rivals didn't fare as well, with General Motors posting sales down 4.2 percent (to 349,867); Ford down 9 percent (to 264,975); and DaimlerChrysler down 4.1 percent (to 228,047).
One indication that buyers are shifting to fuel-sipping vehicles, amid the latest round of gas price hikes, is that sales of Toyota's hybrid Prius for the first three months of 2007 are up 74.7 percent from the same period a year ago, going from 22,123 to 39,682 vehicles sold nationwide.
John Sideris, sales manager at Toyota of Temecula Valley in Temecula, said that dealership sold 475 total vehicles in March, topping the 460 of March 2006. Prius was among the surprise performers of the past month, nearly tripling its usual sales count.
"We sold seven over the weekend," Sideris said, noting that all of those sales were made on Saturday. "We normally do about 10 a month."
Alex Rosten, a Los Angeles-based industry analyst for Edmunds Auto Observer, said that Prius sales nationally were helped by recent price incentives of up to $3,000, which Toyota never offered before this year. Another factor is that Prius is among several makers' hybrid models eligible for tax breaks that are slated to decrease next year, which has encouraged sales in the current tax season.
Still, Rosten said gas prices and the slowing housing market are impacting sales for all the automakers. He said large trucks like Toyota's redesigned Tundra remain among the top sellers as manufacturers increase their incentives.
However , the slowing national rate of housing construction has contributed to an overall drop in sales of pickup trucks to construction-related companies. "There aren't as many contractors buying big trucks," Rosten said.
Fuel costs are steering buyers away from the largest sport utility vehicles and more toward "crossover" SUVs, generally built on car rather than truck suspensions and drivetrains. He said GM and Ford "had a pretty good March," largely thanks to sales of crossovers and small cars.
Some of the bigger hits in the crossover category include GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook, Nissan Murano and Ford Freestyle.
Among small cars, Rosten said the Mazda 3 is the biggest sales gainer, indicating consumers are looking for sporty packages, with amenities like navigation systems, to go with fuel efficiency. He said the Mazda 3 in March doubled its sales from a year ago, but that did not cut significantly into sales for category rivals like Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cobalt, all of which saw healthy annual sales gains.
Bigger trucks and SUVs are still getting sales, but Rosten said those are now being aided more by price incentives, usually between $1,000 and $3,000.
At Inland Valley Buick Pontiac GMC in San Bernardino, business development manager Anthony Silva said larger vehicles like the GMC Yukon Sierra are still "the bread and butter" for that dealership. Still, overall vehicle sales in March were down slightly from last year, going from 152 in March 2006 to 117 this year.
"The market is very tough right now all over the place," Silva said. He added that automakers generally are not offering costly promotions like those used in the past, such as zero percent financing and employee pricing.
Luxury still sells in the U.S. market. Toyota's Lexus division saw sales climb 26.7 percent in March from a year ago; GM's Cadillac Escalade led that company's 17.6 percent rise in luxury SUV sales; and Mercedes-Benz posted its best March ever, countering DaimlerChrysler's overall downturn with its own 1 percent increase, selling 21,612 vehicles.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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