Analyst: Auto Market 'Up for Grabs'

New York - Toyota Motor Corp. has touched off a new "incentive war," according to IHS Global Insight analyst George Magliano, who said market share is now "up for grabs" in the United States, The Detroit News reported. "There's going to be a lot of jockeying going on," he told industry leaders at the NADA/IHS Global Insight Automotive Forum, a lead in to the New York International Auto Show. "This is a really fluid market." Zero-percent financing is "back in vogue," Magliano said, though many consumers are still too worried about their jobs to buy a new car or truck. "We need jobs," he said. "We've got a lot of pent-up demand out there." U.S. light vehicle sales fell to just 10 million units last year from a high north of 16 million, but Magliano expects sales to rebound to 11.8 million units in 2010, thanks largely to the generous incentives automakers are now offering in the wake of Toyota's sweeping recalls. "The bottom line is, we've turned the corner," he said. Toyota and Ford Motor Co. are now in a battle for second place in the U.S., Magliano said, predicting both companies will end up with about 16 percent of the market. Magliano expects General Motors Co.'s share to fall to about 17 percent.