Ford Motor, Nissan Report U.S. Sales Drops That Are Smaller Than Estimated

[Purveyor]

By Mike Ramsey and Alex Ortolani

June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., the only major domestic automaker to avoid bankruptcy, and Nissan Motor Co. reported U.S. sales for May that fell less than analysts’ estimates.

Ford deliveries including the Volvo brand slid to 161,531 vehicles, the Dearborn, Michigan-based company said in a statement today. Nissan, Japan’s third-largest automaker, said sales dropped 33 percent to 67,489.

The results for Ford and Nissan led off industry sales reports for May, a month shadowed by the recession, Chrysler LLC’s Chapter 11 filing on April 30 and General Motors Corp.’s countdown to its request for court protection yesterday.

“The American public is now paying attention to Ford,” said John Wolkonowicz, an analyst at IHS Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts. “People want a hero in all this, and Ford is becoming that hero. It’s the American company that made it.”

Analysts expected Ford to say sales fell 29 percent, the average of 5 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Nissan’s decline was projected to be 37 percent, based on 3 estimates.

GM’s sales probably tumbled 37 percent last month, based on the survey of 5 analysts, while Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler likely plunged 51 percent.

MORE...

BLOOMBERG: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aYEWJczNpoxE&refer=us

[dtotire]

1. This is supposed to be good news n/m

[david13]

2. It is not particularly good news to me as Ford

has always had the worst fleet wide fuel economy ever. But I do have to agree they are better off doing it themselves, in view of a marketing strategy.
dc