Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 5, 1995 TAG: 9504060036
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: DETROIT LENGTH: Medium
Ford sales were up 3.3 percent, with almost all the gain due to record truck sales. Nissan sales, including its luxury Infiniti Division, were up 9.2 percent.
But total U.S. car and truck sales were down 5.2 percent from a sizzling March 1994, after General Motors, Chrysler, Toyota and most other carmakers announced lower sales Monday.
At the March rate, Americans will buy 15.1 million new cars and trucks this year; they bought 15.3 million last year. Among the more interesting numbers were those of the Ford Contour. After a problem-plagued launch last year, the U.S. version of Ford's global midsize car is starting to pick up some sales steam.
Contour and its sister Mercury Mystique accomplished one notable feat in the first quarter - both outsold their cheaper predecessors, the Tempo and Topaz. With prices $4,000 to $5,000 above those cars, this indicates that buyers are moving up.
Automakers can manipulate sales through a variety of methods: rebates to customers, discounted interest rates and dealer incentives - all designed to prop up certain models. It makes conjecture about sales in a given period a risky proposition.
It's hard to tell whether Ford's gains are coming at the expense of other cars, or from attracting the import buyers that Ford covets. Contour sold 14,796 cars in March compared with a scant 6,975 in October, when a recall led to dealers being told not to sell them.
Some of Contour's success could be coming from the 4-year-old Pontiac Grand Am. Pontiac Division general manager John Middlebrook doesn't think so, despite significantly lower February and March Grand Am sales compared with a year ago.
``We're watching Mystique and Contour real close, but our data coming in says the average age of their buyer is somewhere near 50 and we're staying at 38 or 39,'' Middlebrook said. ``If someone's going to hit us head on, it's going to be the Dodge Stratus.''
Stratus, a less-expensive version of Chrysler's new small midsize cars, is just beginning to sell in significant numbers after being launched at the end of January.
Its sister car, the upscale Chrysler Cirrus, is selling slightly better with three more months on the market, but Stratus should eventually sell more, according to Chrysler's marketing plan. Neither car is so far doing better than the Dodge Spirit and Plymouth Acclaim it replaced.
According to dealers, neither the new Ford nor Chrysler cars are doing much to sway buyers loyal to imports.
``I still feel there's an import and a domestic market and I don't think people are crossing those lines too much,'' said Mike Hansen, who sells Chrysler and Nissan cars from the same showroom in Westbrook, Maine.
``I thought I'd have a lot more'' cross-shopping on Contour and Altima. Instead, customers still tend to compare lower-end Honda Accords, Toyota Camrys and Mazda 626s with Altima, he said.
Customer rebates and a dealer incentive helped the Nissan Altima rebound to the best month in its history after lower sales in January and February. A year ago, Nissan was offering a $199 monthly payment on a three-year Altima lease. This March, customers could get a discounted interest rate and a $500 cash rebate.
by CNB