US Vehicle Sales

MAY U.S. SALES

Ford, GM curb sales declines as Honda, Toyota fall more than 40%

Chrissie Thompson
Automotive News
June 2, 2009 - 11:47 am ET
UPDATED: 6/2/09 3:02 p.m. ET

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. and General Motors in May reported their smallest monthly sales declines since last summer, while Honda and Toyota each dropped more than 40 percent from their totals a year earlier, when Americans flocked to small cars because of soaring gasoline prices.

Ford's 25.8 percent decline was the lowest since July 2008, and GM's 29.0 percent skid marked its smallest decrease since September. American Honda said its sales plummeted 41.5 percent from May 2008, when the company set a monthly sales record. Toyota Motor Sales fell 40.7 percent, and Nissan North America was down 33.1 percent.

"There was significant uplift at the end of the month," Ford sales analyst George Pipas said during a conference call today. "The first three weeks of May looked like a repeat of April," when the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate was 9.5 million.

Speaking to reporters before all the May numbers were in, he said the industry might top a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 10 million units in May for the first time since December. He estimated total industry sales for May would fall 33 percent -- the smallest year-to-year decline this year.

A Reuters poll of analysts put the median forecast for May sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 9.4 million, and a Bloomberg News survey of seven analysts projected 9.2 million.

Sales at those levels still would keep industry demand at 27-year lows, and would mark the fifth-straight month below a 10-million-unit rate.

Daimler AG's sales fell 33.4 percent, the BMW Group dropped 27.6 percent and the Volkswagen brand slid 12.4 percent. Subaru slipped 5 percent; Mazda, 40.1 percent; and Hyundai, 20.4 percent.

The Chrysler effect

Some analysts said Chrysler's retail sales rate would show a boost from clearance sales at dealerships being terminated. On May 14, Chrysler told 789 of its dealerships that they would not have a future with Chrysler Group LLC, the new company set to be steered by Italian automaker Fiat S.p.A. after a scheduled emergence from the automaker's bankruptcy on Friday. Those dealerships have one week left to sell their Chrysler inventory.

Chrysler LLC's sales tumbled 47 percent in May, dragged down by a decline of more than 90 percent in fleet volume stemming from a factory shutdown during bankruptcy. Retail sales fell 30 percent, the automaker said.

GM filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on Monday, a development that had been widely expected for several weeks.

Ford said it sold 35,582 crossovers, more than any month since May 2008.

The U.S. sales rate dropped below 11 million units in October, hitting lows not seen in more than a quarter of a century. The rate has hovered between 9 million and 10 million units this year amid an 18-month U.S. recession, the longest since the Great Depression.

Last year's industry sales total was 13.2 million, down from 16.2 million in 2007.

U.S. light-vehicle sales (all manufacturers have reported)
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Automaker May. 2009 May. 2008 Pct. chng. 5 month
2009 5 month
2008 Pct. chng.
BMW Group* 23,023 31,818 –27.6% 93,749 131,943 –28.9%
Chrysler LLC** 79,010 148,747 –46.9% 402,900 750,369 –46.3%
Daimler AG*** 16,318 24,498 –33.4% 77,459 108,657 –28.7%
Ford Motor Co.**** 161,197 217,268 –25.8% 618,369 999,059 –38.1%
General Motors***** 190,881 268,892 –29.0% 772,733 1,326,906 –41.8%
Honda (American)† 98,344 167,997 –41.5% 430,358 655,819 –34.4%
Hyundai Group†† 62,997 77,462 –18.7% 287,302 310,360 –7.4%
Isuzu – 510 – 165 2,975 –94.5%
Jaguar Land Rover‡ 3,391 – – 15,311 – –
Maserati 128 286 –55.2% 482 1,140 –57.7%
Mazda 16,718 27,921 –40.1% 86,652 129,370 –33.0%
Mitsubishi – – –% – – –%
Nissan††† 67,489 100,874 –33.1% 289,446 446,474 –35.2%
Porsche 1,979 2,796 –29.2% 8,757 12,436 –29.6%
Subaru 17,505 18,843 –5.0% 74,686 76,088 –1.8%
Suzuki 2,585 10,364 –75.1% 20,259 46,463 –56.4%
Toyota‡ 152,583 257,406 –40.7% 638,794 1,046,853 –39.0%
VW‡‡‡ 27,230 31,131 –12.5% 108,836 130,549 –16.6%
Other (estimate) 400 524 –23.7% 2,000 2,613 –23.5%
TOTAL 926,130 1,397,360 –33.7% 3,950,363 6,224,463 –36.5%

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 Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Lotus
*Includes Mini and Rolls-Royce
**DaimlerChrysler sold the Chrysler group on Aug. 3, 2007
***Incudes Maybach, Mercedes-Benz and Smart
****Includes Jaguar and Land Rover (through May 31, 2008) and Volvo
*****Includes Saab
†Includes Honda Division and Acura
††Includes Hyundai and Kia
†††Includes Nissan Division and Infiniti
‡Tata Motors includes Jaguar and Land Rover as of June 1, 2008
‡‡Includes Toyota Division, Lexus and Scion
‡‡‡Includes VW, Audi and Bentley

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