Ford Outsells GM for First Time in a Year as Explorer Gains

April 1 (Bloomberg) – Ford Motor Co. outsold General Motors Co. for the first time in more than a year and the second time in the past 13 years in March as GM offered smaller discounts and Ford boosted sales of new or refreshed models.

Ford’s light-vehicle deliveries in the month increased to 212,295, topping GM’s sales of 206,621, the companies said today. GM’s 9.6 percent sales gain trailed five analysts’ average estimate for a 20 percent gain. Ford’s 16 percent increase topped the average estimate for a 13 percent advance.

GM reduced discounts by $600 to $800 per vehicle in March from February, dropping them below the industry average of about 10 percent of selling prices, Don Johnson, GM’s vice president of U.S. sales, said yesterday. Ford, which doubled sales of the redesigned Explorer sport-utility vehicle, last beat GM’s sales in February 2010 and during a GM strike in August 1998.

“Ford is clearly winning the overall war here,” said Mitchell Stapley, who helps oversee $17.7 billion as chief fixed-income officer at Fifth Third Asset Management in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “GM hasn’t had the organic sales growth without rebates that they need to be able to say they’ve regained momentum from Ford.”

GM rose $1.45, or 4.7 percent, to $32.48 at 2:13 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Ford gained 44 cents, or 3 percent, to $15.35.

Chrysler Group LLC, the third-largest U.S. automaker, reported a 31 percent increase in sales for the month, beating the 20 percent average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Japan Earthquake

The March 11 Japan earthquake that shut factories of auto manufacturers and their suppliers may not have a “significant” impact on industry sales, GM’s Johnson said today. He repeated GM’s forecast from earlier this year that U.S. auto sales may rise to 13 million to 13.5 million in 2011, including medium-and heavy-duty vehicles.

“Based on everything I see now, I just don’t see a significant slowdown happening,” Johnson said on a conference call.

Ford said today in a regulatory filing that the earthquake may “adversely affect” its financial condition. The automaker’s truck plant in Louisville, Kentucky, will be closed next week due to a parts shortage, Ford said today on a conference call. The factory makes F-Series pickups and the Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition SUVs, according to its website.

GM Inventory

GM ended March with inventory of about 574,000 vehicles, 57,000 more than a month earlier, according to today’s statement. The automaker’s increased sales of the Chevrolet Cruze helped double GM’s share in the compact-car segment to more than 11 percent in the first quarter, from 5.4 percent in the same period a year earlier.

Ford’s sales of the Explorer climbed to 12,482, while the new Fiesta small car set a monthly record of 9,787 deliveries. Sales of the Fusion sedan climbed 21 percent to 27,566.

“The margin is larger than we expected,” Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst at Edmunds.com, said of Ford’s victory today in an interview. “Ford has a lot of momentum right now, and GM is suffering a hangover from the aggressive incentives they offered in January and February.”

Automakers’ average incentive spending may have fallen to $2,346 per vehicle sold in March, an 8.6 percent drop from February, according to Edmunds. That’s the biggest February-to-March decline since Edmunds began tracking the data in 2002, the Santa Monica, California-based researcher said.

– With assistance from Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles. Editors: Kevin Orland, Jamie Butters

From the Washington Post

Вариант 3

1. Оберіть правильний варiант (a,b,c або d)

1. My mother _________ by air.

a) never has traveled c) has never travel

b) has never travelled d) is never traveled

2. If I ________ the signal, I would have stopped.

a) see b) has seen c) would have seen d) had seen

3. These houses ________ 100 years ago.

a) were building b) are built c) were built d) built

4. Unfortunately, environmentalists _______ any significant results in their fight against warming.

a) haven’t achieved b) achieved c) have achieved d) will achieve

5. Save our Earth (SOE) is an organization founded two years ago. Its aim is ________ awareness among young people of environmental issues.

a) raising b) having raised c) to raise d) to have raised

6. After _______ as a player he continued to be a referee until the age of 50.

a) retires b) retired c) to retire d) retiring

7. I’m busy at the moment. I ________ on the computer.

a) work b) am work c) am working d) working

8. _________ he has a great sense of humour or he is simply trying to distract attention from the real strategic issue.

a) Neither b) Another c) Other d) Either

9. Investors___________ for indicators of the pace of economic growth were disappointed by the results obtained.

a) looks b) are looking c) to look d) looking

10. ________ men still work for Nestle in other countries.

a) Every b) Each c) Both d) Either

11. At this time tomorrow __________ over the Atlantic.

a) we flying b) we’ll be flying c) we’ll fly d) we to fly

12. I _________ like that coat. It’s really nice.

a) am b) do c) very d) yes

13. I really enjoyed the disco. It was great, ________?

a) is it b) isn’t it c) was it d) wasn’t it.

14. “I was late for work today.” – “___________”

a) So was John. b) Either John was. c) So John was. d) So wasn’t John.

15. I’m going to go out and _________.

a) have cut my hair b) have my hair cut c) let my hair cut d) my hair be cut.

16. Someone suggested _________ for a walk.

a) go b) going c) of going d) to go.

17. The police want __________ anything suspicious.

a) that we report b) us reporting c) us to report d) we report.

18. “My bag is very heavy.” – “I _______ it for you.”

a) ‘m carrying b) ‘ll carry c) carry d) am going to carry.

19. Changes in financial trends are so ________ nowadays that I can’t keep with them.

a) fastest b) faster c) fast d) fasty.

20. Production at the factory was seriously affected _________ the strike.

a) at b) in c) about d) during