GM is expected to lose more market share in the US this month according to research firm Truecar. The No.1 American manufacturer’s portion of the market will drop to 19% from 20.1% in December last year. The reason for the weakness is that GM’s unit sales are forecast to rise only 1.9% from December last year to 210,197 in the current month.
Ford (NYSE: F) will hold its market share about steady with last year at just above 17%. Chrysler’s share will also be flat at approximately 8.5%.
The big loser in December sales is expected to be Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) which has not been able to escape damage done to its brand by recalls. Toyota’s December domestic market share is expected to drop from 15.1% compared to 18.3% in the same period last year.
The large net winner is sales is South Korea’s Hyundai/Kia which has taken the place as the “low cost, high quality” from the large Japanese car companies. The firm’s market share in December is expected to be 8% compared to 5.3% last year. At that level, it would pass Nissan in terms of US sales.
Douglas A. McIntyre