According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Saturday reports, grabbing a larger chunk of the US auto market in April has helped Ford push past Toyota to regain its No.
2 position in US vehicle sales market share.

While its two Detroit rivals - General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC - were struggling to stay afloat, Ford zoomed past them and posted record sales of its fuel-efficient Fusion, in April. Despite a 32 percent plunge in its year-over-year monthly sales, Ford managed to capture nearly 16 percent of the total market - thanks to a 2,878 units rise in sales from March to April.

Commenting on the success of the Fusion, Ken Czubay, Ford's VP of sales and marketing, said that the highly popular vehicle - which was launched in 2005 with its 2006 model - "appears to have broken the hold on the midsize sedan segment."

However, auto analyst Brett Hoselton, of KeyBanc Capital Markets, opined that the Fusion owes a notable part of its recent success to the growing customer-concerns about a likely bankruptcy filing at General Motors and Chrysler, which made them go in for the Ford vehicle.

Whatever be the case, Ford sales actually managed to move up, while Chrysler's sales dropped 48 percent; GM's fell 34 percent; Toyota's sales were down 42 percent; Nissan's sales fell 38 percent; and Honda's sales dropped 25 percent!