FORD, HONDA, TOYOTA REPORT BIG SALES

       Boosted by the wildly popular "Cash for Clunkers" pro-gramme in the US, Ford has reported a 17-per-cent year-on-year increase in August sales, but Detroit rivals Chrysler and General Motors have both posted lower results for the month.
       Chrsyler said its August sales fell 15 per cent compared with a year earlier, to 93,222 vehicles, despite the "Cash for Clunkers" programme. Chrysler said how inventories of several popular Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge models contributed to the shortfall. GM said it sold 246,479 cars and light trucks last month, down 20 per cent from a year ago.
       The sales declines exceeded those posted by both auto-makers in July, when GM said its year-on-year sales fell 19 per cent and Chrysler reported a 9.4-per-cent decline in sales compared with July 2008.
       Despite the fall, GM executives described Augusnt as an "excellent" month, saying the auto-maker maintained its market share. They pointed out that the comparison with August 2008 was a tough one because sales were then juiced to their highest level of the year by a special pricing promotion tied to the company's 100th anniversary.
       For Ford, it was the seconds straight month of higher sales and the first year-on-year monthly sales increase since October 2007.
       "Back-to-back sales increases has a nice ring to it," said Ford sales analyst George Pipas.
       Many major auto-makers are expected to report improved sales for August, a month that provided thr first blue skies for an industry that has been in slump for almost two years.
       Honda, riding the strong sales of its Civic and Fit (Jazz) compacts, siad it sold 161,439 vehicles in August, up 14.2 per cent compared with a year ago. The Japanese auto-maker said the clunkers programme pushed buyers to fuel-efficient vehicles, which helped Honda.
       "Honda's August sales speak of the attributes customers were looking for under [the programme] and will continue to look for as the economic recovery take shape," said American Honda Motor's executive vice president John Mendel. "The challenge will be maintaining this momentum going forward."
       Toyota, which captured the largest percentage of clunkers sales, said it sold 225,088 vehicles in August, up by 10.5 per cent over a year ago.
       Ford said sales of its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands were up an even more robust 21 per cent when sales to rental car companies and corporate fleets were excluded. In all, Ford sold 176,323 vehicles last month.
       The increases was driven by strong sales of Ford"s Focus, Fusion, Escape Edge, Flaex and Mercury Mariner.
       Ford also sold more Ranger and F-150 pickups, which posted year-on-year sales increases of 57 per cent and 13 per cnet, respectively. Pickup sales are considered a positive sign for the construction industry because many of tehm are purchased by contractors.
       German auto-makemr Volksagen has credited the "Cash for Clunkers" programme with boosting its August sale,s by 11.4 per cent compared with a year ago, giving the company itms best sales month in the US since December 2005.
       The clunkers programme, which began on July 24 and ran for one month, was designed to kick-start auto sales by rewarding consumers for turning in older cars and trucks for more fuel-efficient new vehicles. Buyers received taxpayer-funded rebates of $3,500 or $4,500 (Bt119,000 or Bt153,000), depending on the gain in fuel economy.
       The programme was an unexpected hit with consumers, who responded with such enthusiasm that the government nearly burned through the programme's initial $1 billion in the first week. An extra $2 billion kept it going.
       In all, dealers submitted 690,000 clunker deals to the government, seeking rebates of $2.88 billion.
       The question now facing auto-makers is how much of that sales momentum will ecarry on, and how much expired with the clunkers programme.
       "Now that 'Cash for Clunkers' is over, we believe that the debate will centre on the impact of a potential 'pull forward' effect on auto sales in the next few months," Barclay's auto analyst Brian Johnson said.
       Although GM initially grabbed the biggest share of clunker sales, by the end, Toyota, with its popular Corolla and Prius, finished first with a 19.4-per-cent share. GM was second with 17.6 per cent.
       GM, Ford and Chrysler pulled in a smaller share of clunker sales than their overall share of the US auto market in the first seven months of the year.