Imports to Overtake Big Three

Washington DC February 7, 2007; The AIADA newsletter reported that auto industry experts say that imports should cross the 50 percent mark in the U.S. auto market sometime this year, perhaps as soon as March.

Domestic models from GM, Ford, and Chrysler took just over half of the U.S. market in January, and are losing ground to imported brands that reached a record high of 49.4 percent of U.S. sales in January.

CNN pointed to a redesigned Honda Accord sedan due out later this year and the roll-out of the much anticipated Toyota Tundra as factors that will further boost import brand sales.

At the same time, the distinction between imports and homegrown brands is shrinking, with vehicle parts being produced globally and the Big Three making many of their cars in Canada, Mexico, and South Korea.

Asian-based automakers sold nearly 4 million vehicles in the U.S. last year that came off North American assembly lines, more than either Ford or DaimlerChrysler, and almost as many as GM.