Ford lags behind Toyota in U.S. sales

Ford Motor Co. again trailed Toyota in sales at the U.S. market, indicating its failure to seek recovery, a report said on Saturday.

The U.S. automaker's sales unexpectedly declined in November, as did its market share, according to figures published by the Los Angeles Times.

This was a step backward for Ford on its road to recovery. That allowed Toyota Motor Corp. to once again overtake the venerable U. S. automaker.

Ford sold 166,196 vehicles last month, a 10.6 percent decline from a year earlier, as sales of both cars and trucks fell, although analysts were expecting a gain of 2 to 3 percent.

Toyota, buoyed by strong sales of its Corolla compact, RAV4 small sport utility vehicle and Lexus luxury cars, sold 196,695 vehicles, a 15.9 percent improvement from last November and in line with estimates.

It was the third time this year that a surging Toyota has bested Ford in the monthly sales standings, and further lays the groundwork for the Japanese automaker to decisively supplant its Michigan rival as the No. 2 car company in the United States, said the report.

Meanwhile, Ford's share of the U.S. new-vehicle market fell to 13.9 percent in November from 15.9 percent a year earlier, while Toyota's share jumped to 16.4 percent, according to the report.

Ford has shut factories and sacked tens of thousands of workers as it struggles to return to profitability following a sharp decline in sales.

Overall, U.S. car and light truck sales rose 2.9 percent in November to almost 1.2 million, compared with a year ago.

Source: Xinhua