Big Three to Focus on Profit, Not Market Share

The Big 3 U.S. automakers are now focusing more on profitability than dominating the U.S. new car market.  As a result, GM, Ford and Daimler Chrysler made up only 50.2% of the domestic market share in June.  That was down from 56.1% last June and a high of 81% in April 1984.

Profitability has been exceptionally challenging in recent years.  The big 3 U.S. manufacturers have had a difficult time getting away from the steep discounts, 0% interest rates and cash incentives they started offering after September 11, 2001.  Consumers have come to expect a "deal" when buying American and plan their purchases around times when auto makers offer big sales.  By reducing the amount of cars sold at deep discounts to car rental companies, the piece of the pie owned by Ford ,  GM   and Chrysler   will continue to shrink.  The big three auto manufacturers are realizing market share, without much profit, isn't all it's cracked up to be.