AUTO INDUSTRY

Results show Cobalt sales motor along

Overall, GM’s January sales in the U.S. rose 14 percent.

STAFF/WIRE REPORT

General Motors sold nearly 13,000 Chevrolet Cobalts last month, more than double the amount sold in January 2009.

Last month was the second-best sales month for the Cobalt since October 2008, when auto sales fell into a tailspin nationwide because of a collapse of stock and credit markets.

“Traffic is brisk on that car,” said Mike Hudock, Chevrolet and Cadillac sales manager at Stadium GM Superstore in Salem.

He said GM increased incentives on the Cobalt last month, which spurred sales. Incentives ranged from $2,750 to $3,750, depending mostly on whether the buyer was a GM employee.

Sales of the Lordstown-built Cobalt totaled 12,962 last month, compared with 5,191 in January 2009.

In the last 16 months, the only month that topped last month’s sales numbers was August 2009, when GM sold 17,393 Cobalts.

Overall, GM’s January sales in the U.S. rose 14 percent due to higher fleet and crossover vehicle sales. Crossovers are similar to sport-utility vehicles in size but sit on a car instead of a truck frame.

January is typically a weak month for U.S. auto sales, but automakers were expecting sales to improve over last January, when they dipped to a 26-year low because of the tough economy. Sales never really recovered last year, totaling 10.4 million cars and light trucks, the lowest since 1982.

Toyota Motor Corp., however, reported that car and truck sales fell 16 percent in January, a month when the automaker recalled millions of vehicles and halted sales of several models.

Susan Docherty, GM vice president of sales, said it’s too early to tell if the largest U.S. automaker gained sales because of Toyota’s problems. But she said dealers reported increased traffic from Toyota customers.

Ford Motor Co., meanwhile, was up 25 percent while Japan’s Nissan Motor Co.’s rose 16 percent.

Chrysler was down 8 percent while Honda Motor Co. sales fell 5 percent. Korean automaker Kia said its January U.S. sales were essentially flat.

George Pipas, Ford’s top sales analyst, said he did not see evidence that Ford was taking buyers from Toyota, which halted U.S. sales of eight popular models due to faulty gas pedals in the final week of the month.

Ken Czubay, Ford’s vice president of sales, said Toyota’s actions may have hurt sales for the industry as a whole toward the end of last month.

Toyota said it would suspend sales of the Camry sedan, its top-selling vehicle, and seven other cars and trucks Jan. 26 after a recall over sticky accelerator pedals. Toyota has said dealers will get the parts to fix the problem by the end of this week.

In the meantime, Toyota could lose thousands of sales in January and February. The car-buying site Edmunds.com predicted Toyota’s U.S. market share would drop to 14.7 percent in January, its lowest level since March 2006. The recall affects 2.3 million cars and trucks in the U.S.

Ford and General Motors Corp., meanwhile, have been offering incentives to Toyota drivers who trade in vehicles.