U.S. sales results released Tuesday showed cars outselling gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs by almost 200,000 in May -- the biggest margin since 1996. That was bad news for U.S. automakers, whose lineups are heavily skewed toward large, inefficient vehicles, but a boon to their car-focused Asian rivals.
General Motors posted a sales drop of about 27% from a year earlier and said it would close four truck plants...In May, Hummer purchases declined 60%, and through the first five months of the year it is the marque that has slipped the most, down 36%, placing it behind brands such as Chrysler, Bentley and even Maybach.
The incentives to stop buying brutally inefficient cars like the Hummer have already been achieved it would seem. What is yet to be determined is how price sensitive Americans are to high gas prices in replacing the existing stock.
[A]fter 17 years, Ford's F-Series trucks were dethroned from the top sales position, falling to No. 5 behind the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.
It's hard to call this the road to improvement though. We're just getting worse slower.
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