US Vehicle Sales

[mmret]

473,108 Camrys
392,231 Accords
284,762 Altimas

57,575 Mazda6s! 
No wonder they say the next Mazda6 will be Americanized.
The sales figures indicate the need. 

They should bring the Euro Mazda 6 over here somehow, TSX style.

[jcon]

                                                  2007     2006
Malibu ...................................... 12,172 11,406

I expected stronger sales than that considering all the attention the Malibu has been getting. Maybe they're selling everything that they've been supplied.

[airbalancer]

I live in GM country, and have not seen many around here, not even on the lots
I think most are staying in the States

[articsteve]

I expected stronger sales than that considering all the attention the Malibu has been getting. Maybe they're selling everything that they've been supplied.

They launched the Malibu without even a showroom demo for every dealer in the US and Canada; even just to take orders.     GM brass are idiots.

[jcon]

They launched the Malibu without even a showroom demo for every dealer in the US and Canada; even just to take orders.     GM brass are idiots.

I would say its better to have the new and improved Malibu available rather than pushing the old one. Sales will climb over time, just like they did for Toyota. GM is in recovery mode right now and only time will reverse the sluggish sales trend.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

                                                  2007     2006
Malibu ...................................... 12,172 11,406

I expected stronger sales than that considering all the attention the Malibu has been getting. Maybe they're selling everything that they've been supplied.

Meanwhile, Impala was affected negatively big-time in December. Unless they pushed hard or had fleet sales in December '06 that's a significant drop.

Would imagine with more supply sales will increase. The value proposition in Canada on the lower end really is hard to ignore.

Seeing Malibus on the road, have to say that's the best looking mid-sized sedan on the road by far. LTZ especially - nice lines, right amount of chrome, great wheels, and no flab. Prefer the Ebony or Titanium 2LT interior over the LTZ tho.

[sailor723]

                                                  2007     2006
Malibu ...................................... 12,172 11,406

I expected stronger sales than that considering all the attention the Malibu has been getting. Maybe they're selling everything that they've been supplied.

Meanwhile, Impala was affected negatively big-time in December. Unless they pushed hard or had fleet sales in December '06 that's a significant drop.

Would imagine with more supply sales will increase. The value proposition in Canada on the lower end really is hard to ignore.

Seeing Malibus on the road, have to say that's the best looking mid-sized sedan on the road by far. LTZ especially - nice lines, right amount of chrome, great wheels, and no flab.

 

The question now is how many years is it going to take for GM to live down their reputation for building crappy cars best suited to rental fleets?

[jcon]

The question now is how many years is it going to take for GM to live down their reputation for building crappy cars best suited to rental fleets?

IMO, less time than it took for Toyota to climb to the top. The brand will rebound.

[barrie1]

Good answer Jcon. I do beleive you are correct as well. 

[articsteve]

Not to throw you dudes into a complete frenzy  , but my prediction is that to save GM as a world manufacturer, GM will place GM North America in Chapter 11 so they can walk away from their Pontiac/Buick/GMC/Saturn/Saab dealers and reformulate GM North America as Chevy/Cadillac and Chevy Trucks and of course many financial obligations as well.

[jcon]

Not to throw you dudes into a complete frenzy  , but my prediction is that to save GM as a world manufacturer, GM will place GM North America in Chapter 11 so they can walk away from their Pontiac/Buick/GMC/Saturn/Saab dealers and reformulate GM North America as Chevy/Cadillac and Chevy Trucks and of course many financial obligations as well.

Interesting but unlikely now. They've already done a good business by shifting the responsibility of the future health care of their employees, to the unions. That means their out of a huge commitment.

Also, they'll need those dealers in place for the future, so upsetting them by destroying the dealer chain is unlikely. Furthermore with the large dealer networks in place, rather than individual dealers, they hold a lot more power and negotiating room to work things out with GM.

I won't say that GM is not going to contract Buick or Pontiac, but I see it as FAR less likely than even one year ago.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

2008 JANUARY AUTO SALES

GM sales up 2.6% in difficult month

Ford, Toyota, Chrysler, Honda, Nissan and others post declines

Richard Truett
Automotive News
February 1, 2008 - 1:14 pm ET

DETROIT -- With its new vehicles gaining traction, General Motors was one of the few automakers reporting a retail sales increase in what was a very tough January for U.S. auto sales.

Toyota, Ford, Chrysler, Nissan, Honda, Volkswagen and several others all lost sales during the month.

Total sales fell 2.9 percent to 1.06 million vehicles. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate was 15.8 million vehicles.

But GM, on the strength of its Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS and hot-selling mid-size crossovers, delivered 250,926 vehicles in January, up 2.6 percent over January 2007.

Of that total, 186,187 vehicles were sold at retail, while 64,739 were fleet sales. The total includes 148,191 trucks.

The star of GM's show was the new Chevrolet Malibu, which has one of the industry's fastest turn rates, staying on dealer lots about 16 days. GM says Malibu sales rose 58 percent over a year ago. The new Malibu won the North American Car of the Year award last month at the Detroit auto show.

Some of the Malibu's sales could be coming at the expense of the older, slightly larger Impala, which saw its sales drop from 25,275, a year ago to 17,544 in January. In any case, Malibu racked up January sales of 14,541, up 57.9 percent from the 9,209 sold a year ago.

Other winners for GM include the Cadillac CTS with sales of 5,534, up 95 percent from 2,843 sold a year ago, and the Chevrolet Aveo, up 40 percent. Aveo sales in January were 5,314. The Buick Enclave/GMC Acadia/Saturn Outlook, were up 134 percent over last year. Sales of each totaled 3,390, 7,318, and 1,951 respectively.

GM's smaller crossover SUVs, the Pontiac Torrent, Saturn Vue and Chevrolet Equinox registered a 38 percent gain.

The increased sales helped shore up GM's market share. Mike DiGiovanni, GM's executive director of global market and industry analysis, estimated the company gained 2 percentage points of share in January.

The January sales boom left GM with 165,000 units in dealer inventory, the lowest it has been in 25 years.

"GM is back in the car business," said Mark LeNeve, GM's vice president of North American sales and marketing.

Ford losing streak continues

Ford's long losing streak continued into 2008, with the company posting a 3.9 percent sales drop over a year ago. Ford has registered just one year-over-year monthly sales gain since October 2006, in November 2007.

Ford did have some good news. Sales of the refreshed Focus sedan rose 44 percent over last January. Ford's Edge sold 10,888 units in January, up from 5,586 a year ago. With sales of 3,026, the MKX, the Edge's upscale cousin, nearly doubled sales over January 2007.

Ford's Escape also posted a strong month, with a sales increase of 33.1 percent over last year.

But Ford's cash cow, the aging F-series pickup, saw another month of sales declines with an 8.4 percent drop. Ford sold 41,125 F-series trucks in January, down from 44,919 a year ago.

Ford sold 159,276 vehicles in January, down from 165,803 during the same month last year.

Toyota has soft month

Toyota Motor Corp. showed mortality during the month.

Its January sales were off 2.3 percent compared with January 2007. The Tundra tumbled. The big truck sold 12,073 units in January, down 37.2 percent from December. That's the best comparison because the new Tundra was just being launched a year ago. Sales of the gasoline-electric Prius hybrid surged 37 percent to 11,379 in January, up from 8,299 sold a year ago.

"On the retail front, consumers are sitting in the catbird's seat, with falling interest rates and a competitive market giving rise to showroom values," Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., said in a statement. "On the product front, the migration toward passenger cars dovetails nicely with February's launch of the all-new Corolla and Matrix."

Part of Toyota's problem for the month was a shortage of inventory, said Bob Carter, group vice president and Toyota Division general manager. He said Toyota experienced its "best January in history" in the region between Texas and Chicago, and the area from Boston to Washington, D.C.

But he said dealers in those regions were held back by shortages of certain models of Camrys and RAV4s.

He acknowledged there were soft spots in the brand's lineup in January. Two SUVs, the FJ Cruiser and 4Runner, fell by 37 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Corolla dipped 18 percent as the company sold off old inventory in preparation for this month's launch of a new generation.

Dodge gains, but Chrysler down

Chrysler started 2008 with mixed news. Led by new Dodge Avenger, sales of Dodge cars jumped 42 percent over a year ago. Charger, Viper and Caliber also gained in January. But it wasn't enough to drag Chrysler into positive territory because of the losses posted by the Chrysler and Jeep brands.

Chrysler sales were off 17 percent; Jeep was down 6 percent. Perhaps the most worrisome sales trend for Chrysler was the cold reception the company's new minivans received. The Dodge Caravan posted January sales 56 percent lower than a year ago. The Chrysler Town & Country saw a 20 percent drop.

Even the Jeep Wrangler, one of the company's top performers, got hurt in January. The rugged off-roader sold 6,137 units last month, down from 8,954 a year ago.

Chrysler officials acknowledged this is the first time monthly Wrangler sales have declined since the new model was introduced in fall 2006.

Steven Landry, Chrysler's executive vice president of North American sales said: "The strength of orders still strong. We want to be sure we continue the momentum with Wrangler. Our challenge is to make sure both the 2-door and 4-door stay as strong as they have been."

Landry said Chrysler's Toledo Supplier Park is still "maxed out" keeping up with Wrangler orders.

Acura drop drags Honda results

Meanwhile, combined sales of Honda and Acura brand vehicles dipped slightly in January, down 2.3 percent over a year ago, to 98,511. Honda division reported a half percent drop in sales.

On the strength of the redesigned Civic and Accord and the Fit subcompact, Honda cars gained 7.1 percent. But its trucks lost 6.2 percent. The Acura division dinged Honda in January, with a sales decline of 14.2 percent.

In other reports issued so far today:

  -- Nissan North America saw its January sales skid 7.3 percent. Sales of Nissan branded vehicles were down 7.8 percent, while the Infiniti luxury division registered a 3.6 percent dip over last January. The totals: Nissan sales were 67,971, down from 73,680.

Several new vehicles, such as the Rogue SUV and Versa compact, are off to a quick start, adding more than 11,000 units to Nissan's total. But that wasn't enough to offset lower sales for the Titan truck, Armada, Quest and Murano.

  -- Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia didn't fare much better than their Japanese counterparts. Hyundai saw its U.S. sales dip from 27,721 a year ago to 21,452 last month, a drop of 22.6 percent. Kia did better but still lost ground. Its sales of 21,355 in January were off 5.2 percent compared with sales of 22,524 a year ago.

" We are disappointed with our sales results and recognize this is a challenging sales environment…," said Hyundai Motor America's vice president of national sales, Dave Zuchowski.

  -- Mercedes-Benz, with an increase of 19 percent, posted its highest ever January sales. Some winners for the German automaker included the C-class, which gained 18 percent with sales of 4,647 compared with 3,928 sold a year ago.

  -- Volkswagen saw its January sales skid 13.2 percent in January. VW is without its diesel-powered Jetta, a popular vehicle in a time of high fuel prices. Sales of the Touareg SUV dropped by almost 50 percent.

  -- Sales at Porsche were off 13 percent.

  -- Suzuki opened the 2008 sales season with a 12.9 percent drop compared with January 2007.

  -- Subaru sales fell 6.5 percent, but the recently freshened Impreza chalked up a small gain in sales over last January.


 
 Jan. Jan. Pct. 1 mos. 1 mos. Pct.
 2008 2007 chng. 2008 2007 chng.
Aston Martin 140 – – 140 – –
BMW Group* 29,437 21,846 34.7% 29,437 21,846 34.7%
Chrysler LLC** 137,392 156,308 –12.1% 137,392 156,308 –12.1%
Ford Motor Co.*** 159,276 165,803 –3.9% 159,276 165,803 –3.9%
General Motors**** 250,926 244,614 2.6% 250,926 244,614 2.6%
American Honda† 98,511 100,790 –2.3% 98,511 100,790 –2.3%
Hyundai Group†† 42,807 50,245 –14.8% 42,807 50,245 –14.8%
Isuzu 433 500 –13.4% 433 500 –13.4%
Mazda 21,212 19,248 10.2% 21,212 19,248 10.2%
Mercedes-Benz USA 20,790 17,087 21.7% 20,790 17,087 21.7%
Mitsubishi 7,226 9,383 –23.0% 7,226 9,383 –23.0%
Nissan††† 76,605 82,644 –7.3% 76,605 82,644 –7.3%
Porsche 2,595 2,984 –13.0% 2,595 2,984 –13.0%
Subaru 11,289 12,074 –6.5% 11,289 12,074 –6.5%
Suzuki 7,120 8,179 –12.9% 7,120 8,179 –12.9%
Toyota‡ 171,846 175,850 –2.3% 171,849 175,850 –2.3%
VW‡‡ 21,196 23,251 –8.8% 21,196 23,251 –8.8%
Other (estimate) 563 604 –6.8% 563 604 –6.8%
TOTAL 1,059,367 1,091,410 –2.9% 1,059,367 1,091,410 –2.9%

Numbers in this table are calculated by Automotive News based on actual monthly sales reported by the manufacturers and may differ from numbers reported elsewhere.
Source: Automotive News Data Center
Note: Other includes estimates for Ferrari, Lamborghini and Lotus; actuals for Maserati
*Includes Mini and Rolls-Royce; BMW division and Mini January 2008 sales are estimates
**DaimlerChrysler sold the Chrysler group on Aug. 3, 2007
***Includes Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo; Aston Martin's estimated sales are included through May 2007
****Includes Saab
†Includes Honda Division and Acura
††Includes Hyundai and Kia
†††Includes Nissan Division and Infiniti
‡Includes Toyota Division, Lexus and Scion
‡‡Includes VW, Audi and Bentley

[sirAQUAMAN64]

January '08...

[WpgMonty]

If I'm reading this correctly, only DaimlerUS, Mazda and the General saw increases in numbers? And every other marque had a decrease over the same period last year.

Wow.

And again, if I'm correct, the domestic passenger cars held their own, and the big loss was import passenger cars and both domestic and import light trucks.

The Detroit Three better start focusing on passenger car sales, as obviously the market for light trucks continues to erode.

[Guy]

GM, Ford, Toyota Post Declines in U.S. February Sales (Update8)

By Jeff Green and Alan Ohnsman

March 3 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler LLC and Toyota Motor Corp. said sales fell in February as rising fuel prices and a slowing economy dragged the industry to its steepest decline in seven months.

GM's light-vehicle sales dropped 12.9 percent, Ford's slipped 6.6 percent and Chrysler was down 14 percent. Toyota, No. 2 in U.S. sales ahead of Ford and Chrysler, posted its second decline of 2008 and its sixth in eight months. GM and Ford scaled back production plans for next quarter.

``Primarily it's driven by the weak economy,'' said Mirko Mikelic, who helps manage $22 billion at Fifth Third Asset Management in Grand Rapids, Michigan, including GM debt. ``It's been difficult for people to refinance and get credit.''

Last month's 6.3 percent sales decline was the industry's seventh since June, reinforcing projections for sluggish sales in the first half of 2008. Analysts forecast auto sales in the U.S. this year of about 15.5 million, the lowest since 1998.

Industrywide sales totaled 1.18 million in February, down from 1.25 million in February 2007.

The industry's annualized sales rate for February fell to 15.4 million cars and light trucks from 16.6 million a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. Automakers have sold an average of 16.8 million light vehicles in the U.S. each year this decade.

Stalled Economy

The six-year U.S. economic expansion stalled in December and January, possibly marking the beginning of a recession, said Martin Feldstein, Harvard University economist and president of the National Bureau of Economic Research, in a Bloomberg Television interview last week.

The economy lost jobs in January for the first time in more than four years. A report from the Institute for Supply Management today showed manufacturing in the U.S. contracted in February at the fastest pace in almost five years.

The deteriorating housing market and gasoline selling at a nine-month high helped drive the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index to a 16-year low in February.

``The general feeling of wealth in the country is shaken,'' John Mendel, executive vice president of Honda Motor Co.'s U.S. sales unit, said in an interview last week.

The slump may hurt domestic automakers more than foreign rivals. Chrysler President Jim Press said last week that GM, Ford and Chrysler won't be able to block overseas-based carmakers from permanently holding more than half of the U.S. market as the three U.S. companies continue to cede share.

Honda and Nissan Motor Corp., the second- and third-largest Japanese automakers behind Toyota, boosted U.S. sales last month.

Pressure Point

GM's decline to 268,737 cars and light trucks was led by a 19.2 percent drop in light trucks, including the Chevrolet Silverado pickup. GM this month added no-interest loans for as long as five years on the Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups to help boost sales. Cars fell 1.2 percent.

The Detroit automaker said it will cut second-quarter North American production 5.4 percent to 1.08 million cars and trucks.

Ford's slide to 196,060 sales was spurred by a 9.3 percent decline in cars. Gains for smaller models such as the Fusion and Focus failed to offset shrinking demand for larger sedans such as the Taurus and Crown Victoria. Light-truck sales were down 5.3 percent, including a 4.9 percent falloff in F-Series pickups and a 27 percent plunge for the Explorer sport-utility vehicle.

Ford reduced plans for North American second-quarter production by 10 percent to 730,000 and also said it will go to one shift from two at assembly plants in Chicago and in Louisville, Kentucky, later this year.

Toyota

Toyota sold 182,169 vehicles in February. The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker was dragged down as dealers await full production of the redesigned Corolla small car. The Prius hybrid also fell. Toyota sold 14,400 Tundra pickups, up from 9,669 a year earlier.

Chrysler, No. 4 in U.S. sales, fell 14 percent to 150,093, paced by a 32 percent decline in its Dodge Grand Caravan and a 23 percent drop in the Jeep Wrangler SUV. Chrysler said some of the decline stems from planned reductions in low-profit sales to rental-car companies.

Chrysler said it would boost incentive spending by 5 percent in March over February, including no-interest, 72-month loans for 2007 models and no-interest 60-month loans on most 2008s.

The company also will offer Dodge Ram trucks with Hemi engines at no extra cost compared with smaller engine varieties.

Fit and Civic

Honda sold 115,397 vehicles last month, up 4.9 percent from a year earlier. Gains for the Tokyo-based automaker were led by the Fit and Civic small cars and CR-V and Pilot SUVs.

Nissan, Japan's third-largest automaker, sold 86,219 vehicles last month for a 1.2 percent increase.

Sales of Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz vehicles rose 7.3 percent, and Volkswagen AG, based in Wolfsburg, Germany, was up 1.2 percent.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG fell 1.8 percent, and Porsche SE sales declined 11 percent.

The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline climbed 5.9 percent last month to $3.17, the highest since June, according to motorist group AAA. The median sales price of existing homes slid 4.6 percent from a year earlier in January, to $201,100.

Last month had 25 selling days, one more than February 2007. Analysts and some automakers adjust for the difference when reporting percentage changes. Bloomberg and other automakers use unadjusted comparisons, which are about 4 percentage points higher.

[Cord]

I always find the spin put on these reports as interesting as the data itself.

For instance, the author thought it necessary to include this comment:

Toyota, No. 2 in U.S. sales ahead of Ford ...

and then later reported these numbers:

Ford's slide to 196,060 sales ...

Toyota sold 182,169 vehicles ...

No "slide" for Toyota despite it dropping significantly out of its 2nd place spot for February.

[sailor723]

I always find the spin put on these reports as interesting as the data itself.

For instance, the author thought it necessary to include this comment:

Toyota, No. 2 in U.S. sales ahead of Ford ...

and then later reported these numbers:

Ford's slide to 196,060 sales ...

Toyota sold 182,169 vehicles ...

No "slide" for Toyota despite it dropping significantly out of its 2nd place spot for February.

It always seems like papers are trying to spin or spice up stories these days. Whatever happened to the 5 W's as a basis for a news story?

[sirAQUAMAN64]

February '08...

[Zombie]

Looks like GM is still selling a lot of cars in the US but they are down by about 40 k since 07 ouch!!

[Guy]

March numbers

BRANDS
Acura –15.8% at 13,288 (3/07: 16,986)
Audi 7.2% at 7,987 (3/07: 8,020)
BMW –1.7% at 23,115 (3/07: 25,325)
Buick –18.2% at 12,317 (3/07: 16,222)
Cadillac –0.8% at 17,453 (3/07: 18,943)
Chevrolet –16.9% at 164,564 (3/07: 213,156)
Chrysler –15.8% at 40,539 (3/07: 51,874)
Dodge –15.3% at 85,906 (3/07: 109,226)
Ford –6.7% at 187,828 (3/07: 216,788)
GMC 1.2% at 38,422 (3/07: 40,894)
Honda 6.9% at 125,446 (3/07: 126,406)
HUMMER –23.3% at 3,451 (3/07: 4,847)
Hyundai 9.8% at 42,796 (3/07: 41,984)
Infiniti 7.3% at 13,821 (3/07: 13,877)
Jaguar 13.2% at 1,752 (3/07: 1,667)
Jeep –5.1% at 39,941 (3/07: 45,335)
Kia –2.8% at 24,871 (3/07: 27,567)
Land Rover –10.2% at 3,054 (3/07: 3,663)
Lexus –6.9% at 24,939 (3/07: 28,855)
Lincoln –20.4% at 10,913 (3/07: 14,770)
Mazda –6.0% at 32,929 (3/07: 37,742)
Mercedes 3.7% at 20,808 (3/07: 21,612)
Mercury –11.4% at 14,333 (3/07: 17,426)
MINI 26.4% at 4,289 (3/07: 3,655)
Mitsubishi –7.7% at 10,750 (3/07: 12,536)
Nissan 3.1% at 93,100 (3/07: 97,242)
Pontiac –10.1% at 25,417 (3/07: 30,448)
Porsche –13.8% at 2,624 (3/07: 3,278)
Saab 12.4% at 2,962 (3/07: 2,837)
Saturn –7.5% at 18,146 (3/07: 21,123)
Toyota –2.9% at 192,791 (3/07: 213,820)
Volkswagen 21.5% at 19,587 (3/07: 17,355)
Volvo –6.4% at 9,263 (3/07: 10,661)