Ford Sales Slip, Nissan Climbs By Michael Ellis DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday capped 2004 with its seventh straight month of weaker sales, despite a crop of new vehicles and hefty incentives, while Japan's Nissan Motor Co Ltd. posted another sales gain. Ford, which proclaimed 2004 the "year of the car" when it hoped new models like the Mustang sports car would boost results, reported a 3.6 percent drop in sales for December. The results exclude some heavy trucks and Ford's foreign brands Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover, which posted mixed results. All sales results are adjusted for an extra selling day in December 2004. Sharply weaker sales for many of Ford's sport utility vehicles, including the Explorer and Expedition, offset gains from the new cars, including the Mustang and the Five Hundred sedan. Nissan said its sales jumped 32.7 percent to 92,268 cars and trucks, boosted by strong results for its new Pathfinder sport utility vehicle. "All in all, a great calendar year, and a great fiscal year with three months to go," said Jed Connelly, Nissan's head of North American sales and marketing. Analysts expect a strong finish for the industry for 2004, with sales estimates ranging from an annual light vehicle sales rate of 17.3 million to 17.6 million, up from 16.3 million in November and compared with 17.4 million in December 2003. MORE INCENTIVES General Motors Corp., scheduled to report results later on Tuesday, is expected to post a sharp drop in sales despite its "Red Tag Sale" incentive program with the sale price of the vehicle marked on a large red label. GM on Tuesday announced its latest incentive offer, giving $1,500 in cash rebates to current owners or lessees of GM vehicles who buy or lease a new GM vehicle. The rebate is in addition to other cash rebates, which the automaker carried over from last month and amount to as much as $3,500 on the Chevrolet Blazer, and between $2,000 and $3,000 on most other vehicles. Germany's Volkswagen AG earlier this week said it will offer a year of free car insurance to customers in two states as a new way of attracting business. The move aims to boost VW's U.S. sales, which have suffered since 2002 due to an aging model line-up and intense competition from rivals. Quelle "Ford Sales Slip, Nissan Climbs" : reuters.com Main page for "Ford Sales Slip, Nissan Climbs"