Toyota beats Ford

From The Associated Press:

"Ford sold 224,447 vehicles in July, down 35 percent from 346,429 in July 2005. Toyota’s July sales totaled 241,826 vehicles, up 12 percent from 216,417 a year earlier."

It was the first time Toyota had outsold Ford in the U.S. market for any month.

No surprise there. Toyota's model mix is more in line with what people will want and can afford. Ford put a lot of effort into pickups and SUVs. That worked for a few years. Now that gasoline prices are back up -- probably to stay -- people are shying away from pickups and SUVs.

I don't know if that's necessarily true around here, but it seems to be happening throughout the U.S.

I have a Jeep and a Ford. If I could buy any vehicle I wanted when the Jeep gives out, it would be a 2006 VW Rabbit, preferably the GTI model. Until a month ago, I wanted a new Mustang, but the new Rabbit/GTI are more in line with what I want and what I figure will do me best in the next few years.

A lot of folks around here seem to buy based on brand loyalty. My guess is that is what keeps GM's and Ford's market share up.

But some of the brand loyal folks are dying off or getting off the road. Think about how many Cadillacs and Lincolns are on the road now compared with 15 years ago. And then count all the Lexus, Infiniti and Accura models you see.