Amid April decline US automakers see revival signs

02 May 2009

US auto sales declined 34 per cent in April but there was some cheer as Ford edged past Toyota and Chrysler's sales did not fall as sharply as some feared.

April lived up to being a cruel month, at least for the auto industry with Chrysler sliding into bankruptcy and General Motors (GM) fighting back to the wall to avoid the same fate and overall US sales plummeting 34 per cent from a year back.

But industry experts believe that it could possibly be the bottom of the barrel and things could only start getting better.

Chrysler sales tanked at 48 per cent for the whole of April but a substantial part of that reflected a drop in orders from rental car agencies. These are much less profitable that retail sales through car dealerships.

Ford sales at 134,000 vehicles were down 31 per cent in April and Toyota saw a steeper fall of 42 per cent to 126,000 allowing Ford to regain its No 2 position behind GM in total US sales for the first time since early 2008.

GM's sales were down 33 per cent from a year ago-a steep drop, but given the bankruptcy talk around the company analysts point out that it is not as bad as expected.