Hyundai Leads Toyota, Honda U.S. Sales Gains Amid Cooling Vehicle Demand

Hyundai Motor Co. led Asia-based automakers’ U.S. sales gains in June as waning consumer confidence cooled demand for new cars and trucks.

Sales at Hyundai, South Korea’s largest automaker, jumped 35 percent from a year earlier and set a record for the month, the company’s U.S. unit said yesterday. Other increases included 6.8 percent for Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest automaker, 6.2 percent for Honda Motor Co. and 11 percent for Nissan Motor Co.

“June was somewhat of a disappointment,” Al Castignetti, Nissan’s U.S. vice president and general manager of its namesake brand, said in an interview. “I have to point the finger at consumer confidence. Toward the end of the month we weren’t seeing the consumer traffic we’d been expecting.”

The monthly results followed data on manufacturing, jobless claims and home sales that fueled concern the economic recovery is faltering. The Conference Board this week said its confidence index slumped to 52.9 in June from a revised 62.7 in May.

Auto sales rose 14 percent last month from a year earlier, after gains of 19 percent in May and 20 percent in April. Sales at the two largest U.S. carmakers, General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., increased 11 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

The Japanese and South Korean companies again lost ground to U.S.-based competitors, with a combined 44.8 percent market share in June, a percentage point drop from a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp. GM, Ford and Chrysler Group LLC held 46.5 percent.

The June results “further reinforce that carmakers are still struggling on the retail side, badly,” said Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com, an auto research website in Santa Monica, California.

Toyota

Toyota reported sales of 140,604 Toyota, Lexus and Scion autos last month, up from 131,654 a year earlier. The Toyota City, Japan-based company had gains for Camry sedans and Tundra pickups, while Prius hybrid deliveries dropped 15 percent.

“We remain confident that over the mid- and long term the industry outlook is very positive,” Bob Carter, group vice president of Toyota’s U.S. sales unit, said in a conference call yesterday.

Toyota’s market share for the month fell to 14.3 percent, from 15.3 percent a year earlier, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata.

Carter also said Toyota has completed repairs on more than 4 million, or 78 percent, of U.S. vehicles recalled this year for issues linked to unintended acceleration.

Honda, Nissan

Honda sold 106,627 Honda and Acura vehicles, an increase from 100,420, said Christina Ra, a spokeswoman for the U.S. unit of Japan’s second-largest automaker. The gains were led by Civic small cars, Accord sedans and CR-V sport-utility vehicles.

Market share for Tokyo-based Honda slipped to 10.8 percent, from 11.7 percent, according to Autodata.

Nissan, the third-largest Japanese automaker, sold 64,570 Nissan and luxury Infiniti models, rising from 58,298, Brian Brockman, a company spokesman, said in an e-mail message.

Sales of Versa and Sentra small cars, as well as Rogue and Murano crossover SUVs, contributed to the Yokohama, Japan-based company’s gains, Castignetti said.

Hyundai

Hyundai sold 51,205 cars and light trucks, compared with 37,943 in June 2009, the Seoul-based company said in a statement. The revamped Sonata sedan, released early this year, again led the gains, climbing 49 percent.

“June was a very tumultuous month for the industry with declining consumer confidence, housing market instability and unexpected financial market volatility,” Dave Zuchowski, Hyundai’s vice president of U.S. sales, said in a statement.

Given that economic situation, “we were encouraged that Hyundai continued to outperform the market and seize additional market-share gains,” he said.

“Hyundai is a good example of one of the few companies that’s growing mainly because of new products -- the Sonata, Tucson SUV, the Genesis” luxury sedan, said Caldwell, the Edmunds.com analyst.

Kia Motors Corp., a Hyundai affiliate, reported a 19 percent increase from a year earlier to 31,906 vehicles.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net

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