Ford: We're No. 2 in Sales

Ford(F Quote) reported its smallest sales decline in 11 months, making it the country's No. 2 automaker in June and raising the possibility that it could move to the top spot.

Ford said its June sales fell by 11%, while Toyota(TM Quote) sales fell 33% and sales at General Motors(GMGMQ Quote) fell 34%.

Ford, Lincoln and Mercury sales totaled 148,153, while Toyota sales were 131,544. GM sales for Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC and Pontiac totaled 167,194. GM plans to close Pontiac, but expects to retain much of the sales volume.

On a sales call with analysts and reporters, Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president for North American sales, speculated that Ford could surpass GM as the country's top automaker. "We'll have four brands, they'll have three (and) the number of dealers will be almost identical," he said.

But LaNeve, like Ford sales executives, stressed that the goal is to be profitable based on selling the best vehicles, not to outrank another manufacturer in sales totals.

That is the old, failed model, and the auto industry is changing quickly. Perhaps the best indication is the precipitous decline in inventories. Old Detroit made too many vehicles and then sold them at too-steep discounts, a reflection of the concept that they could lose money on each vehicle but make it up on volume.

At the end of June, Chrysler had an inventory of 195,272 vehicles, down 56% from the same month a year earlier. Ford's inventory was 343,000 vehicles, down 38%. GM's inventory was 582,000 vehicles, down 26%.