ONE-TON PICKUP TRUCKS

Thanks to the rivalry between Isuzu D-Max and Toyota Vigo, the pickup segment is heading for a record year as sales are expected to top the 400,000-mark for the first time in history. Based on 11-month sales of 390,039 units and an estimated 50,000 units or more in December to close out the fourth quarter, the domestic pickup market could well be worth 450,000 units this year. The segment expanded 21.5% from January to November compared to the same period last year. Chevrolet (157.5%), Mitsubishi (31.9%), Toyota (22.2%) and Isuzu (19.5%) provided the surge for the segment, the first three posting above average growth rates. In fact, Isuzu and Toyota are the "market" from the perspective of sales volume. In layman's terms, Isuzu and Toyota combine almost equally to account for seven out of 10 pickups seen on the road. Isuzu has a market share of 37.5% and Toyota 33.6%. Isuzu should top the commercial vehicle segment for the 23rd year running with sales of 165,000 units, well ahead of Toyota which is expected to net sales of about 145,000 units. Ford could give Chevrolet a run for its money next year when its model-change pickup, previewed in concept form at the Motor Expo earlier this month, hits the market. That said, Isuzu and Toyota should be followed by Mitsubishi (8.4%), Nissan (7.2%), Chevrolet (5.8%), Ford (4.4%) and Mazda (2.8%), in that order as the year comes to an end.

PASSENGER CARS

It's been a slow year for the passenger car segment. Even new compact sedans, both model-change and cosmetic touch-ups, from Ford, Honda and Toyota might not be able to turnaround the 11.8% drop in sales. However, boost for the segment will come from Toyota and Honda. Toyota is still the "market" with almost half of the total volume sold in the segment - 79,369 units or 48.9%. Honda is second with 29% based on sales of 47,046 units. For the whole year, Japanese mainstream volume-sellers (Mitsubishi, Nissan and Mazda) sold about one-tenth of what Toyota and Honda sell in a single month. The premium segment is dominated by Mercedes-Benz which claims to have over 53% market share. Merc sales were estimated at 7,166 units compared to BMW's 2,012 units.

SPORT-UTILITY VEHICLES

It's going to be a record year for sport-utes whose sales could reach 40,000 units by the time curtain falls on 2005.Pickup-based SUVs and their competitive pricing - thanks to more competitive excise taxes - have spurred growth of this segment to unprecedented levels: 36,950 units sold during January-November.

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