The New Big 3: GM, Toyota, Chrysler

From today's Detroit News:

"For the first time in recent memory, Ford Motor Co. fell to No. 4 in U.S. auto sales behind General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, demonstrating just how far the automaker has fallen as it battles to stop a decade-long decline in market share.

At the same time, the Detroit automakers' share of the American auto market fell to just 50.6%in January as they narrowly avoided selling fewer cars and trucks than foreign makers in a month for the first time ever."

MP: 1.09 million vehicles were sold in January, and 16.55 million vehicles were sold in 2006. At an average price per car of $20,000, U.S. vehicle sales in 2006 were about $330 billion. To put the size of that market in perspective, if the U.S. vehicle market were to be considered as a separate economy, it would be the 21st largest economy in the world, after #20 Sweden (GDP of $354B), and ahead of Saudi Arabia ($310B), Austria ($305B), Poland ($300B), Indonesia ($287B) and Norway ($283B).