Asian automakers face battle to keep US dominance

DETROIT (AP) — Asian automakers grabbed their biggest chunk ever of the US car and truck market in 2009, but they’ll struggle to build on that momentum this year as rivals in Detroit offer a fleet of efficient, small cars.

All automakers that sell cars and trucks in the US will try to woo cautious consumers still nervous about heavy debt, high unemployment and rising gas prices.

Market share held by 10 Asian automakers - including leaders Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. – rose to 47.4 percent last year, surpassing for the first time Detroit’s three players, which slipped to 44.2 percent, according to Autodata Corp.

Those gains will be hard to extend this year. The struggle will center on small and midsize cars, as well as alternative-fuel models that run on electric batteries, or hybrid combinations of gasoline and electric.

The rivals all showed their wares this week at the Detroit auto show.

The Asian manufacturers’ longtime dominance in smaller and greener cars gives them a running start this year, but Ford Motor Co. has countered with a revamped compact Focus and General Motors Co. is touting an allelectric Volt and new small cars like the Aveo, which is supposed to get about 40 mpg (17 kpl) on the highway.

GM and Ford also have strong sales in midsize cars, and the 2010 Fusion hybrid grabbed the North American Car of the Year award at the Detroit show earlier this week. That’s added to growing signs of strength for Detroit, even after a tough year.

But that bad year was enough to shift Asian brands into the top market share spot.

That’s a big reversal from 1980, when the domestics owned three-quarters of all sales and the Asians held just 18 percent.

Back then, Detroit still ruled a car culture that was just starting to digest the long-term implications of two gas price spikes in the 1970s.

That force spurred a shift toward greater demand for smaller, fuel-efficient cars. The 1990s blunted that, when lower gas prices gave rise to SUVs and boosted the fortunes of Detroit.

Still, the Asian manufacturers, who last year built nearly 60 percent of their US cars in North America, were on their to car dominance.

In 2009, Detroit’s dependence reliance on trucks came back to haunt it. SUV sales collapsed the year before in the wake record-high gasoline prices. Then came the financial meltdown and credit freeze. With mounting debts, GM and Chrysler Group LLC were forced into bankruptcy protection and Ford had to use billions in borrowed money to stay alive.

That raised consumer concerns about GM and Chrysler and turned off many buyers.

This year, fuel-efficient cars will appeal to drivers who want to avoid resurgent gas prices and the higher sticker prices on big cars and trucks.

But it’s a brutal market overall. The outlook for industry sales isn’t certain for 2010, but last year’s drop of 21 percent to the worst level since 1982 doesn’t inspire confidence. Just 10.4 million cars and light trucks were sold, far below the average of 17 million for much of last decade.