U.S. vehicle sales weaker than expected in May

Both General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday reported decline in their May car sales in the United States. But Japanese carmakers suffered the biggest contraction in car sales.


"The big three are really the big three this month: GM, Ford, and Chrysler sold the most cars in May, followed by Toyota, Hyundai/Kia, Honda and Nissan," said Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst with U.S. auto researcher Edmunds.com.


GM said on Wednesday that it sold 221,192 vehicles, down from 223,822 a year agoAlthough its retail sales rose nine percent amid strength in passenger cars, the 16-percent drop in fleet sales has dragged the total volume lower.


Edmunds.com last week forecasted that U.S. new-vehicle sales would drop 0.4 percent industry-wide in May and saw a 2-percent gain for GM.


Meanwhile, Ford's U.S. May sales dropped 0.1 percent year on year to 192,102 vehicles, which is mainly attributable to big drop in truck sales.


However, Chrysler Group LLC's U.S. sales rose 10 percent to 115, 363 in May on improvement in truck volume and robust growth at the Jeep brand, which marks the 14th consecutive month Chrysler reported a year-on-year growth.


Besides, Toyota reported a 33.4-percent drop to 108,387 vehicles from a year earlier. Sales of the best-selling Camry even fell 35.7 percent to 18,830 vehicles while total Toyota light truck sales fell 26 percent to 51,468 units.


Nissan Motor Co. and Honda reported 76,148 and 90,773 vehicle sales in May, down 9.1 percent and 22.5 percent from a year earlier, respectively.
(Source:http://news.xinhuanet.com)