ipro 356: plug-in hybrid electric vehicle - Community List - Illinois ...

Isopomoto IIT EnPRO-356, Fall 2006
2.4.1 Major trends affecting the auto industry
The Big Three‘s Dominance of the U.S. Auto Market Is Compromised
Throughout most of automotive history, the Big Three (General Motors, Ford and
DaimlerChrysler) have dominated the U.S. market. However, during the past decade,
they have slowly lost that luxury (see figure 2). American carmaker‘s share of the U.S.
market fell from about 73.5% in 1995 to about 58% in 2005. In 2006, the percentages
shifted even further with the US companies holding just 53% of the market, while Asian
automakers took 41.4%.
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
GM Ford DC Toyota Honda
Figure 2: The decline in % market share of U.S. companies from 1995 – 2006 9
16
1995
2000
2005
2006
This gradual shift is largely due to a general perception among a substantial
number of American consumers that foreign products are superior in design and quality.
Despite heavy discounting and incentives from American carmakers, consumers still seek
the fuel economy often associated with Asian models. In July 2006, Toyota surpassed
Ford in unit sales while Honda surpassed the Chrysler Group (the US arm of
DaimlerChrysler) to rank fourth in unit sales (refer to table 10).
9 Plunkett Research, Ltd.