ASIAN auto makers outsold Detroit's Big Three in the United States for the first time last month as buyers left General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co trucks on dealer lots in favor of fuel-efficient Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas.
Japanese and South Korean car makers raised sales by 3.7 percent in May to win a record 48.2-percent market share, led by Honda Motor Co's 16-percent gain, Bloomberg News reported.
GM, Ford and Chrysler LLC fell a combined 23.5 percent because consumers shunned pickups and sport-utility vehicles as gasoline neared US$4 a gallon.
Honda's Civic small car dethroned Ford's F-Series pickup to become the best-selling vehicle in the US.
Three other Japanese cars also overtook Ford's perennial sales champion, underscoring a shift that prompted GM to announce the closing of four truck plants in North America on Tuesday. GM will expand production of cars in response to what it called a permanent change in consumer behavior.
"I've never known the market to change this much this quickly in my lifetime," said Jim Hossack, a market analyst for AutoPacific Inc in Tustin, California, a 38-year-old industry veteran who previously developed vehicles for Ford, Chrysler, Mazda Motor Corp and Hyundai Motor Co. "It's fueled by gasoline prices, obviously, but there's more to it than that."
Honda shares rose 8 percent to 3,770 yen (US$36), the highest level this year as of 12:54pm on the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday. Toyota rose 2.4 percent to 5,530 yen and shares of Nissan Motor Co gained 4.9 percent to 970 yen.
Overall US sales fell 11 percent, their seventh straight monthly decline, extending the industry's longest streak since 2000-2001. Vehicles sold at an annual rate of 14.3 million, the lowest in a decade. Car sales accounted for 57 percent of new purchases, up from 50 percent a year earlier.
Honda's Accord and Toyota Motor Corp's Camry and Corolla also beat the F-Series. The last time the pickup was topped by a car was in December 1992, according to Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford. Among large auto makers, the two Japanese firms are rated the most fuel-efficient by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Honda's Civic travels 36 miles per gallon of gasoline in highway driving, compared with 17mpg for Ford's F-150 pickup with a V-8 engine, according to the EPA. Toyota's conventionally powered Camry gets 31mpg.
The average price of a gallon of gasoline rose to US$3.98 in the US on Tuesday, up from US$3.16 a year earlier, according to motorist group AAA.
Honda outsold Chrysler to rank No. 4 in US sales, behind GM, Toyota and Ford.
Chrysler, the auto maker most dependent on light trucks, tried to boost demand by guaranteeing buyers that they would pay no more than US$2.99 for a gallon of fuel. Its sales fell 25 percent, for their biggest drop this year.
GM's US sales dropped 28 percent and Ford's 16 percent.