Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. sales surged 32 percent in December and Hyundai Motor Co.'s soared 41 percent to push Asian automakers ahead of U.S. competitors in annual market share for the first time.
Japanese and South Korean companies raised sales last month 26 percent from a year earlier. Honda Motor Co. yesterday posted a 24 percent increase and Nissan Motor Co. reported a gain of 18 percent. Asian automakers held 47.4 percent of the market, compared with 44.9 percent for General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., and Chrysler Group LLC, according to Autodata Corp.
The U.S. recession and bankruptcies at the predecessors of Detroit-based GM and Chrysler ravaged 2009 sales, cutting the full-year total to the lowest since 1982. Hyundai, its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. and other Asia-based brands found ways to exploit those developments, said market forecaster Jesse Toprak.
"Hyundai offers a lot of car for the money, and value triggered purchases in 2009," said Toprak, head of industry analysis for TrueCar Inc., a data service in Santa Monica, California. "They also increased incentive spending during the year and were more aggressive in fleet and rental sales."
Hyundai, South Korea's largest automaker, posted an annual increase of 8.3 percent, as the industry total slid 21 percent to 10.4 million, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata. Hyundai, based in Seoul, ranks seventh in the U.S. by sales volume.
Hyundai rose 0.5 percent, or 500 won, to 110,500 at 11:23 a.m. in Seoul trading.
U.S. Industrywide sales rose 15 percent to 1.03 million in December. China will release 2009 annual sales figures Dec. 8. The world's most populous nation is set to overtake the U.S. as the world's biggest auto market, according to analysts such as Koji Endo, managing director of Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo.
Toyota's 'Momentum'
Sales of Toyota, Lexus and Scion models rose to 187,860 vehicles in December from 141,949 a year earlier, led by Corolla small cars, Camry sedans and Prius hybrids, the company said.
Toyota probably led the market in annual retail sales for the first time, selling more than 1.6 million vehicles, said Don Esmond, the Toyota City, Japan-based automaker's U.S. senior vice president. That excludes deliveries to fleet buyers such as rental-car companies.
Full story
