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7:06 PM, June 16, 2009
A price war sparked by Toyota Motor Corp.'s effort to regain sales lost to its
recall and reliability woes sent auto sales surging in March.
Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Toyota all reported large sales gains Thursday.
Ford said its sales rose 43% in March, when Ford, Lincoln and Mercury dealers delivered 178,546 vehicles. The gain mirrored a similar increase in February and marked the highest monthly sales increases for Ford since February 1984.
"We saw incentives rise and prices fall at some of our competitors," said Ken Czubay, vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service for Ford. He noted that Ford's incentive offering was about the same as the previous month and that the company was attempting not to get sucked into a price war. It planned a major advertising campaign later this month pitching what he described as the favorable attributes of the automaker's vehicles.
"When you add value to the product," he said, "you don't have to go after the incentive gain."
Ford wants to limit its incentives to models that directly compete with Toyota, such as its Fusion mid-sized car, which competes with Toyota's Camry, and the Ford Focus, which is a rival to the Toyota Corolla.
Toyota's sales shot up 41% to 186,863 vehicles in March following a 9% drop in February as consumers shied away from the brand due to continuing controversy over incidents of unintended acceleration in some of its vehicles.
Toyota executives said its strong sales month represented restored consumer confidence in the brand.
Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Toyota all reported large sales gains Thursday.
Ford said its sales rose 43% in March, when Ford, Lincoln and Mercury dealers delivered 178,546 vehicles. The gain mirrored a similar increase in February and marked the highest monthly sales increases for Ford since February 1984.
"We saw incentives rise and prices fall at some of our competitors," said Ken Czubay, vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service for Ford. He noted that Ford's incentive offering was about the same as the previous month and that the company was attempting not to get sucked into a price war. It planned a major advertising campaign later this month pitching what he described as the favorable attributes of the automaker's vehicles.
"When you add value to the product," he said, "you don't have to go after the incentive gain."
Ford wants to limit its incentives to models that directly compete with Toyota, such as its Fusion mid-sized car, which competes with Toyota's Camry, and the Ford Focus, which is a rival to the Toyota Corolla.
Toyota's sales shot up 41% to 186,863 vehicles in March following a 9% drop in February as consumers shied away from the brand due to continuing controversy over incidents of unintended acceleration in some of its vehicles.
Toyota executives said its strong sales month represented restored consumer confidence in the brand.
