UPDATE 1-Toyota gains as October U.S. auto sales weaken
(Adds analyst comment, Tokyo share prices)
DETROIT, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) snapped out of a quarter-long slump to post a slight gain in U.S. auto sales, eclipsing Ford Motor Co (F.N) to hold onto the No.2 spot in the largest vehicle market.
Sales for General Motors Corp GM.N were down almost 1 percent for October, outperforming a broad market it said had likely contracted almost 4 percent.
Major automakers said the slumping U.S. housing market, higher gasoline prices and wildfires in California had all combined to crimp sales in October despite signs that vehicle demand had steadied from an even rockier summer.
"I think it's fair to describe the industry as facing a number of challenges and that's showing up in performance," said GM's chief sales analyst Paul Ballew.
Toyota squeaked out a gain of less than 1 percent from a year earlier, snapping a three-month streak of lower sales as showroom traffic in the Midwest and elsewhere offset a continued slump in California.
"I actually expected Toyota to do a bit better, but there's largely no change in the trend," Mizuho Investors Securities analyst Atsushi Kawai said.
He said that while the remaining two months of the year could be even more difficult for Toyota, the new Corolla sedan should help it regain momentum in the new year.
The revamped Corolla, unveiled this week at an industry show in Las Vegas, is due to hit showrooms in February.
Honda Motor Co (7267.T) reported almost flat results, with October sales off 0.2 percent. Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) bucked the downtrend to post an almost 9 percent sales gain year-on-year, driven by the Rogue crossover and Altima coupe.
Shares in all three Japanese automakers fell sharply on Friday as the Tokyo market mirrored a tumble on Wall Street overnight. Tokyo's transport sector .ITEQP.T fell 2.4 percent in morning trade, underperforming a 1.6 percent drop in the TOPIX index as the yen remained steady against the dollar.
Ford posted a 13 percent monthly decline in October sales, reflecting a cutback in low-margin sales to car rental firms as part of a restructuring aimed at restoring its U.S. operations to profitability.
Ford's decline was largely in line with cautious Wall Street expectations. The automaker said it had held retail market share around the 13 percent level it has built into its turnaround plan.
GM said it had gained U.S. market share to account for about one-quarter of total sales.
Results from the major automakers came on the same day that Chrysler LLC announced plans to slash another one-fifth of its factory work force, citing the risk that industry-wide demand would remain weak into next year.
Privately held Chrysler, which announced plans to eliminate four slow-selling models, was due to report monthly sales results later on Thursday.
CALIFORNIA IN FOCUS
The October sales results underscored the importance of sales in California for Japanese brands such as Toyota, which dominate sales in the most populous U.S. state and the largest single market for new cars and trucks.
"In Southern California, wildfires crimped a key market already impacted by the housing downturn," said Jim Lentz, Toyota's executive vice president of U.S. sales.
Nissan also said there was evidence that retail sales had slowed in the last 10 days of the month, at about the time Southern California was hit by fires that drove some 500,000 people from their homes.
"The last 10 days were definitely slower," said Mark McNabb, Nissan's senior vice president for U.S. sales.
On an industry-wide basis, McNabb said the U.S. market appeared to be headed for a 2007 sales tally of about 16 million vehicles. That would represent a roughly 3 percent decline from 2006, when sales totaled 16.5 million vehicles, and mark the weakest result for the industry in almost a decade.
Even so, McNabb said there were some signs the market had steadied after an unexpectedly weak July when credit concerns were blamed for undercutting auto sales results and raising concerns of an even deeper slump.
"It seems to have stabilized a bit," McNabb told Reuters. "I think 16 (million) is a good call, but I still think there's risk."
Sales results for the major automakers were adjusted for an additional selling day in October compared with the same month last year. (Additional reporting by Jui Chakravorty and Poornima Gupta in Detroit and Chang-Ran Kim in Tokyo)
