2011 sales leaders will try to hold off Honda and Toyota in 2012

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Updated: February 6, 2012 4:56PM

DETROIT — An early trend: Last year’s three big sales winners — Chrysler Group, Hyundai-Kia and Volkswagen of America — continued to drive the market in January.

An early subplot: American Honda and Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. have begun their long-awaited sales recoveries after a tough 2011. How much lost market share will they win back and where will it come from?

A surprisingly strong January — up 11 percent from January 2011 and the best January since 2008 — seemed to preview that battle, in an optimistic setting. The 913,284 light-vehicle sales translated to a seasonally adjusted rate of 14.2 million, matching the cash-for-clunkers frenzy of August 2009 and well above December’s 13.6 million pace.

The January SAAR “is 1 million over the early-month expectations,” said Adam Jonas, top auto analyst at Morgan Stanley. “Our 14 million sales forecast is officially under review for positive revision.”

“It’s significant to see 900,000 in January when much of the country typically is in a deep freeze,” said Toyota Division General Manager Bob Carter. “We’re bullish with where the industry is going.”

Chrysler Group sales surged 44 percent, VW group was up 40 percent and Hyundai-Kia rose 20 percent. And all three were going up against strong January 2011 figures.

But after losing volume last year because of product shortages caused by natural disasters, Toyota group sales rose 8 percent in January, and American Honda climbed 9 percent. And those comparisons were against a relatively normal January 2011, before the Japan earthquake.

Before January, American Honda’s sales declined in every month since May. Toyota sales were down or flat in seven of the previous eight months.

Japan gets tough on collusion

For Japanese auto parts suppliers, these are deeply disturbing times. A business culture that long has overlooked collusion is under attack.

Japan’s Denso Corp., which supplies major automakers worldwide and is a member of the Toyota Group, and Yazaki Corp. joined Furukawa Electric Co. in pleading guilty in North America to bid-rigging.

All three suppliers will pay hefty fines. Seven Yazaki and Furukawa middle managers — all Japanese nationals — face up to two years’ jail time in the United States.

The collusion on prices and contracts — where you agree to let me have customer A’s business and I let you have customer B’s — is under attack, and not just by the U.S. Department of Justice. Japanese authorities also have significantly stepped up enforcement.

A newly invigorated antitrust watchdog in Japan is investigating collusion on prices and other activities that long have been illegal in the United States and elsewhere. Japanese suppliers no longer can take advantage of lax regulators at home to build a strong base from which to launch their overseas operations.

The crackdown by Japan’s antitrust authorities, which gained momentum last year, marks a major shift toward international antitrust standards and away from Japan’s old-school collusive practices.

Under fire, TrueCar alters Web pricing

TrueCar.com, the online vehicle shopping service, has stopped offering vehicle prices from dealers and promises of big discounts.

Instead, TrueCar shoppers now request price quotes from local dealers after they visit the TrueCar website.

Now TrueCar resembles its online shopping competitors such as Cars.com and Edmunds.com in the way it connects shoppers to dealers.

The changes come at a difficult time for TrueCar. It is losing dealerships and just agreed to pay $50 million a year for three years to be Yahoo.com’s exclusive auto shopping partner.

Dealers, such as Richard Cvijanovich, a TrueCar client in Phoenix, said the emphasis on discounts eroded transaction prices and profits. TrueCar dealers with lowball prices “really skew the market for the rest of us who are trying to make a profit on the front and back ends and be fair with our clients,” he said.

And regulators in many states said TrueCar’s methods violated various laws designed to protect the interests of dealers and consumers. In many states, that will affect not only the way TrueCar presents pricing information to shoppers, but also the way it charges its dealer clients.

For the full stories and more visit autonews.com.