Sales percentages reflected in this story will change throughout the day, as the Automotive News Data Center compiles its own sales data. Automotive News compares year-to-year sales based on sales for the entire month of June. Automakers routinely adjust their numbers based on the number of sales days.

DETROIT (Reuters) -- General Motors on Monday said its U.S. sales fell 26 percent in June, a sharp decline from last year's incentive-boosted results and in line with the company's cautionary forecast. Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG on Monday also reported lower June sales, citing high gasoline prices and slower sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles, signaling a weak start to the summer season.

The world's largest automaker sold 413,473 vehicles in the United States last month, compared with 558,092 vehicles a year earlier.

GM recorded a 41-percent jump last June after it began offering U.S. consumers the same discounts it gives its employees.

This year, GM has vowed to stick to a strategy of offering more limited discounts, such as zero-percent financing on many 2006 models through the July 4 weekend.

The automaker kept its third-quarter production forecast unchanged at 1.050 million units.

The weak numbers come amid intensifying pressure on GM's management. GM's board called an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss a letter from Tracinda Corp., the investment arm of billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, which urged the automaker to consider a three-way alliance with Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and Renault SA.

Under the proposal, Nissan and Renault would buy a minority stake in the world's largest automaker.

If such a deal were to materialize, the combined company would be the largest force in the global automotive industry by a wide margin. On a combined basis, the three companies had 2005 sales of about 14.5 million units, nearly double the sales of Toyota Motor Corp., the No. 2 worldwide automaker and the most profitable.

Sales for Toyota Motor Corp., which has eclipsed DaimlerChrysler to become the third-largest player in the U.S. auto market, shot up 14 percent.

Nissan has struggled in the U.S market this year, and its June sales tumbled by 19 percent.

Nissan's difficulties have included a disruptive move in its headquarters to Nashville, Tenn., slower sales, production cuts and an embarrassing recall of some four-cylinder Altima and Sentra sedans due to evidence of engine fires.

Toyota has taken larger share of the contracting U.S. market as consumers have been drawn to its vehicle line-up, which trails only Honda Motor Co. in average fuel economy.

"Fuel efficient products continue to drive the market, even as consumers are likely becoming acclimated to today's fuel prices," said Toyota Motor Sales Executive Vice President Jim Lentz.

The Detroit-based automakers, meanwhile, have seen their market share erode as American consumers pull away from trucks and SUVs -- a segment they dominate.

Ford's June sales dropped 7.1 percent, while DaimlerChrysler's sales plunged 13 percent in June.

Both companies were hurt by declines in sales of trucks and SUVs, a category that has been hit hard by higher gas prices and more expensive financing because of higher interest rates.

Sales of Ford's Explorer, the company's best-selling SUV, dropped by 36 percent in June, while sales of its larger Expedition were down 46 percent. "There's no question that higher gas prices have hurt demand for these products," said Ford sales analyst George Pipas.

Analysts expect overall June sales to be between 16.0 to 16.5 million vehicles on an annualized basis, up slightly from May, but down from a year earlier. A final industry-wide sales total will be available later on Monday.

Auto industry executives have said there were signs that consumers were waiting for better deals in July, when both GM and Chrysler rolled out new discount offers. Ford's Pipas said that sales had slowed appreciably later in the month, typically the busiest sales period for auto dealers.

CHRYSLER INCENTIVES UP

The weak June results capped a rough quarter for Chrysler, the only Detroit-based automaker to post a profit in the first quarter. Chrysler, sitting on an unsold inventory of over two months of vehicles as of end May, has had to resort to the biggest discounts of any of the automakers this year.

DaimlerChrysler's first-half U.S. sales were down 5 percent, as a 17 percent gain for Mercedes-Benz was more than offset by the 3 percent drop for the bigger-volume Chrysler brand.

Over the weekend, Chrysler attempted to shore up its flagging sales with the most aggressive discount offer of the year, combining employee-level pricing with zero-percent financing and a 30-day money back guarantee.

Hyundai and Kia sales climbed a modest 2.6 percent to 71,951.

Volkswagen sales in the U.S. increased 7.3 percent to 28,430, while BMW sales increased 2.7 percent to 27,763.

Mazda sales rose 7.5 percent for the month to 23,727, while Mitsubishi sales fell 5.8 percent to 10,004.

Suzuki sales spiked 27.7 percent to 9,516 in June, while Subaru rose 3 percent to 18,476.


.S. car and truck sales for June and YTD

June June Pct. 6 mos. 6 mos. Pct.
2006 2005 chng. 2006 2005 chng.
BMW* 27,763 27,030 2.7% 157,414 145,029 8.5%
DaimlerChrysler** – – –% – – –%
Ford Motor Co.*** 267,862 288,356 –7.1% 1,542,823 1,609,059 –4.1%
General Motors**** 407,513 550,829 –26.0% 2,036,037 2,320,621 –12.3%
American Honda† – – –% – – –%
Hyundai Group†† 71,951 70,146 2.6% 380,613 367,523 3.6%
Isuzu – – –% – – –%
Mazda 23,727 22,063 7.5% 140,704 134,988 4.2%
Mitsubishi 10,004 10,621 –5.8% 58,361 65,753 –11.2%
Nissan††† – – –% – – –%
Porsche – – –% – – –%
Subaru 18,476 17,946 3.0% 96,026 93,303 2.9%
Suzuki 9,516 7,449 27.7% 56,959 42,014 35.6%
Toyota‡ – – –% – – –%
VW‡‡ 28,430 26,500 7.3% 158,490 136,115 16.4%
Other (estimate) 585 592 –1.2% 3,400 3,170 7.3%
TOTAL 865,827 1,021,532 –15.2% 4,630,827 4,917,575 –5.8%
Numbers in this table are calculated by Automotive News based on actual monthly sales reported by the manufacturers and may differ from numbers reported elsewhere.
Source: Automotive News Data Center
Note: Other includes estimates for Ferrari, Lamborghini and Lotus
*Includes Mini and Rolls-Royce
**Includes Mercedes-Benz
***Includes Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo
****Includes Saab
†Includes Honda Division and Acura
††Includes Hyundai and Kia
†††Includes Nissan Division and Infiniti
‡Includes Toyota Division and Lexus
‡‡Includes VW, Audi and Bentley

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