Ford outsells Toyota

Ford outsells Toyota as auto sales drops go on
BY JEWEL GOPWANI • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • May 2, 2009

Ford Motor Company turned the tables on Toyota Motor Co. in April, outselling Japan's largest automaker in monthly sales for the first time in more than a year.

Ford, which has been promoting itself as the "different" American automaker that is surviving without federal assistance, sold 129,476 cars and trucks in April. Toyota sold 126,540.

For the year, Ford sales are still about 46,000 vehicles behind Toyota. But Ford is benefiting from its new Fusion hybrid and gasoline-powered models, which Ford is billing as "America's most fuel-efficient mid-sized sedan."

Toyota reported the second-largest decline, with sales falling 42%, as popular models struggled.
April sales of the once-popular Toyota Prius hybrid declined 61.5%, compared with the same month a year ago, when gas prices were at least $1 higher. Sales of the Camry, usually the nation's best-selling passenger car, fell 37%.Across the U.S. auto industry, meanwhile, light-vehicle sales fell 34.4% in April, compared with the same month last year. That was the 18th consecutive month of declines. For the year, U.S. new-vehicle sales are now off 37.4%.