$4 gasoline has reduced the big 3's U.S. market share for the month of May. The three combined for a 44.4% share: the worst ever showing for the leading American automakers. Including the Month of May, the past year saw the Big three go below a 50% market share five times. Back in 2004, the big three controlled 60% of the market share.
The lackluster sales allowed Japanese auto makers to cut the lead of the big three in the U.S. Led by Honda for the month of May, Japanese car manufacturers trail by just 1.9 points with 42.5% market share: a 5.7 points gain to end the month.
General Motors' market share fell bellow 20% for the first time in the company's history. GM faced a trying month as the company not only had to deal with the issues of rising gas prices and shifting demand, but also had to deal with internal problems such as the UAW strike.
Although Toyota's volume dropped by 4.3%, the company still increased its market share as it climbed to 18.4%. Toyota closed the gap considerably to GM, trailing by just 0.7 percentage points. During the same month last year, GM's lead over Toyota was 102,033 units. Now however, the lead is just 11,488 units.
Overall however, the auto industry is still struggling. In the month of May, car sales have dropped by as much as 10.7%.
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