Detroit 3 are Big 3 again as May sales reorder industry

May was an odd sales month.

For starters, the Detroit 3 were the Big 3. Chrysler Group outsold Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. and American Honda, moving up to No. 3 behind General Motors and Ford Motor.

No Toyota was among the 10 best-selling vehicles. Seven other cars -- two Chevys, two Fords, two Hyundais and a Nissan -- had more sales than the Toyota Camry. And Hyundai-Kia came within a thousand units of catching Toyota group.

Overall, May U.S. auto sales fell to the slowest selling pace since August as thin inventories, low incentives, high fuel prices and a lackluster economy kept buyers out of showrooms.

Automakers sold 1.1 million light vehicles, down 4 percent from last May. The seasonally adjusted annual selling rate of 11.8 million was down sharply from April's 13.2 million SAAR, and the lowest since August 2010's 10.8 million.

Considering tight supplies of fuel-efficient vehicles after the Japan earthquake, the lowest incentives since 2002, rising dealer margins and high fuel prices, it's only natural for consumers to sit it out, said Jeff Schuster, chief auto forecaster for J.D. Power and Associates.

"There's no draw to pull people into showrooms," he said today. "The only ones who have to go are those with expiring leases or damaged or worn-out vehicles."

Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, Ford Motor's chief economist, said May sales for the industry were reduced by limited supplies, especially in the compact and subcompact car segments.

"Were it not for those constraints, we believe sales would have been higher," she said. "We could have a couple of additional months of lean sales, but we fully expect a good recovery."

Chrysler Group outsold Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. in May, 115,363 units to 108,387. Chrysler, with a 10 percent gain, was one of the few automakers to increase May volume, and finished the month No. 3 behind General Motors and Ford Motor Co.

In mid-May, Jesse Toprak, analyst for TrueCar.com, suggested Toyota might lose the No. 3 U.S. sales position to Hyundai-Kia. Instead it was Chrysler that bumped product-short Toyota from No. 3. Hyundai-Kia finished No. 5 in May, just 961 units behind Toyota.

Most Japanese automakers struggled in May, with slowed production and tight inventories following the March 11 earthquake in Japan. Toyota Motor Sales was the hardest hit, with volume down 33 percent for the month. The decline was enough to push Toyota's five-month total into negative territory -- off 1 percent.

For the month, American Honda Motor Co. was down 23 percent, Nissan North America was off 9 percent, Mazda declined 21 percent and Subaru of America fell 15 percent. The only Japanese automakers to increase sales in May were the smallest, with Mitsubishi up 60 percent and Suzuki rising 20 percent.

Japanese automakers lost a whopping 7.3 points of U.S. market share in May, falling to 30.4 percent of light vehicle sales.

Who took it? Well, everybody. Korean automaker Hyundai-Kia was the biggest winner, up 2.8 points to a 10.1 percent share. Then the Detroit 3, which grabbed a combined 2.4 share points to just short of half the market. Europeans as a group picked up another 2.1 share points.

The Toyota Camry, frequently the best-selling U.S. passenger car, fell to No. 8 in May as supplies dwindled, with 18,830 sales. Stable-mate Corolla sold only 16,985 units and fell off the top 10 list.

Ahead of Camry in May? The Chevrolet Malibu with 25,600 sales. Then it was Nissan Altima, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra.

Not a single Toyota model made the 10 best-selling light-truck list.

The pure-electric Nissan Leaf outsold the extended-range Chevrolet Volt handily in May -- 1,142 units to 481. But Volt, which has been on sale months longer as production of both models ramps up, clings to a narrow year-to-date lead: 2,184 to 2,167.

Brands gone but not forgotten turned May into a loss for both General Motors and Ford Motor Co.

On a continuing-brand basis, GM was flat in May and up 20 percent in the first five months. Including the 2010 sales of Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab, GM was down 1 percent in May and is up 19 percent for the first five months of 2011.

Similarly, Ford Motor's remaining Ford and Lincoln brands were up 5 percent in May and 18 percent year to date. But with sold-off Volvo and discontinued Mercury, the automaker is down 3 percent in May and up only 9 percent for the year.