Ford up 47% while GM, Toyota, Chrysler, Honda have double digit declines

[Cord]

Ford +47% year over year for July. Pretty good month for Ford.

GM -41.9%
Toyota -12.5%
Chrysler -10.4%
Honda -19%

http://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCATRE5736PE20090804?sp=true

[rrocket]

It's odd how both Toyota and Honda's luxury division recorded sales gains in these "hard economic times" while losing ground with their "regular" cars....

[carcrazy]

It's odd how both Toyota and Honda's luxury division recorded sales gains in these "hard economic times" while losing ground with their "regular" cars....

Well off people are still well off even in economic downturn?

[UmroAyyar]

Brilliant news for Ford and its decision makers. Their global expertise are showing through (Mazda/Volvo/Ford platforms).

[rrocket]

Yup.  Thanks to Mullaly. 

[johngenx]

Ford is doing a few things:

1. "Family" pricing and other incentives.  I've seen some incredible deals on Fords advertised.  An Escape XLT 4WD for $23K?  Youch!  Very hard to resist.

2. Improving their offerings, regardless of where they were.  The Fusion was decent, but they keep making it better.  THAT'S called not resting on your laurels.

3. Here comes the Fiesta.  As these products come, all other makers better bring their A game.

[Flinter]

It's odd how both Toyota and Honda's luxury division recorded sales gains in these "hard economic times" while losing ground with their "regular" cars....

Well off people are still well off even in economic downturn?

 
It looks like most of the luxury/sporting brands are up significantly this month compared to the YTD(2009 vs 2008) numbers. Makes me wonder if the those looking for these brands have decided the deals aren't going to get any better than now? Either that or the pent up demand from the past year is starting to flow.

http://www.desrosiers.ca/Monthly%20Updates/sales.pdf

[random006]

Ford is doing a few things:

1. "Family" pricing and other incentives.  I've seen some incredible deals on Fords advertised.  An Escape XLT 4WD for $23K?  Youch!  Very hard to resist.

2. Improving their offerings, regardless of where they were.  The Fusion was decent, but they keep making it better.  THAT'S called not resting on your laurels.

3. Here comes the Fiesta.  As these products come, all other makers better bring their A game.

Exactly, especially points 2 and 3.  As shown by other manufacturers in recent times, reducing prices alone does nothing for the company in the long term.  Kudos to Ford and Mulally.

[Patate]

I suspect that this gain, like in the US, is driven partly by fleet sales.  GM and Chrysler's dealer lots are empty right now, and Toyota isn't enough for those rental companies.

[PJungnitsch]

Ford is doing a few things:

2. Improving their offerings, regardless of where they were.  The Fusion was decent, but they keep making it better.  THAT'S called not resting on your laurels.

3. Here comes the Fiesta.  As these products come, all other makers better bring their A game.

Agree with random, these two are the best sign long term. They can't survive giving those huge discounts forever, and eventually Chrysler and GM factories are going to be cranking out stock again.

But hopefully they can use this short term gain to keep them going until 2) and 3) really kick in......

[rrocket]

Ford is doing a few things:

2. Improving their offerings, regardless of where they were.  The Fusion was decent, but they keep making it better.  THAT'S called not resting on your laurels.

3. Here comes the Fiesta.  As these products come, all other makers better bring their A game.

Agree with random, these two are the best sign long term. They can't survive giving those huge discounts forever, and eventually Chrysler and GM factories are going to be cranking out stock again.

But hopefully they can use this short term gain to keep them going until 2) and 3) really kick in......

I'm optimistic about the Fiesta.  But I just read in a magazine that said a nicely equipped one will sticker for about $18,000 USD...which is too much IMO.  But let's wait and see...

[Trainman]

Good for Ford!

Also, Subaru America is reporting double digit sale increases for all models except, what else, the Tribeca.

[Shnak]

It's also interesting to see that Hyundai has pretty much caught up with Honda. It's not even close when you add up Hyundai and Kia together.

All of those numbers show that consummers are after value, reliability and brand confidence... Toyota's and Honda's just don't offer good value anymore... they used to be the kings of reliability, hence great value even if more expensive... that simply isn't the case anymore. You can now get just as reliable for much less money nowadays. People are starting to realize that...

It's about time Toyota and Honda realize this and adjust their pricing & content... they aren't very competitive anymore.

I'm also puzzled as the drop for Mazda... -17.5% YTD... not sure why that is. I suppose only the Mazda3 does great in its segment while the other models are kind of marginal in theirs... Nissan is also surprising at -9% YTD... many of their models offer decent value for the money I think.

The only popular brands with significant sale increases are Ford, Hyundai & Kia. Value, reliability, brand confidence. Those have it all.

[dougjp]

  Good for Ford!

Have you noticed the breakdown between Fleet and non Fleet is seldom mentioned, and only when its used to try and portray the manufacturer in a favorable light? This applies to all manufacturers who 'deal' in fleet. So we are basically left to guess-and-be-fooled about retail sales.

I wonder how the styling and pricing of the Mazda3 is being accepted, and if that has a bearing on their sales drop. Honda and more so Acura finally lose first place in the battle to show who amongst the major manufacturers can have the highest monthly % sales drop. I suppose something has to be said about Saab. It seems to have good and bad news. The good news is they manage to sell more than 1 car per calendar day over the month, just barely. The bad news is, that's across the entire 4 1/2 time zones of our country. Somehow it has been hit by far the worst of the brands that are being discontinued. 

[carcrazy]

I'm optimistic about the Fiesta.  But I just read in a magazine that said a nicely equipped one will sticker for about $18,000 USD...which is too much IMO.  But let's wait and see...

It depends what "nicely equipped" means. A Fit Sport A/T w/Navi is $19K in the US. If you  can get a better or similarly equipped Fiesta for $18K, I would say it's priced very well.

[PJungnitsch]

I'm optimistic about the Fiesta.  But I just read in a magazine that said a nicely equipped one will sticker for about $18,000 USD...which is too much IMO.  But let's wait and see...

Agree, we'll see about the Fiesta. But it is just the thin edge of Mulally's 'One Ford' wedge. The Transit Connect is already on sale, the new Focus is coming out, the Kuga IIRC, the new Ranger etc. He just needs the time and the money to get these into production in NA.

[toolatecrew]

Good for Ford!

Have you noticed the breakdown between Fleet and non Fleet is seldom mentioned, and only when its used to try and portray the manufacturer in a favorable light? This applies to all manufacturers who 'deal' in fleet. So we are basically left to guess-and-be-fooled about retail sales.

I wonder how the styling and pricing of the Mazda3 is being accepted, and if that has a bearing on their sales drop. Honda and more so Acura finally lose first place in the battle to show who amongst the major manufacturers can have the highest monthly % sales drop. I suppose something has to be said about Saab. It seems to have good and bad news. The good news is they manage to sell more than 1 car per calendar day over the month, just barely. The bad news is, that's across the entire 4 1/2 time zones of our country. Somehow it has been hit by far the worst of the brands that are being discontinued. 

I think Acura's sales decline might be directly tied to the ugly snoz they have tacked on all their cars. Hopefully the Mazda 3 doesn't suffer the same fate. Face it car manufacturers people don't want big ugly grilles on their cars no matter how much you try to tell us we do

[Patate]

Good for Ford!

Have you noticed the breakdown between Fleet and non Fleet is seldom mentioned, and only when its used to try and portray the manufacturer in a favorable light? This applies to all manufacturers who 'deal' in fleet. So we are basically left to guess-and-be-fooled about retail sales.

I wonder how the styling and pricing of the Mazda3 is being accepted, and if that has a bearing on their sales drop. Honda and more so Acura finally lose first place in the battle to show who amongst the major manufacturers can have the highest monthly % sales drop. I suppose something has to be said about Saab. It seems to have good and bad news. The good news is they manage to sell more than 1 car per calendar day over the month, just barely. The bad news is, that's across the entire 4 1/2 time zones of our country. Somehow it has been hit by far the worst of the brands that are being discontinued. 

I think Acura's sales decline might be directly tied to the ugly snoz they have tacked on all their cars. Hopefully the Mazda 3 doesn't suffer the same fate. Face it car manufacturers people don't want big ugly grilles on their cars no matter how much you try to tell us we do

For once, I agree with you.

[onearmed]

VW group is doing pretty good, and their worldwide market share has increased.  They are positioned very well in this recessionary period.

Manufacturer   July 2009   July 2008   % change
Audi                           822           583        +40.3
Volkswagen                4,018        3,506        +14.6

Worldwide news:

In the first six months of the year, Europe’s largest automobile manufacturer delivered 3.1 million (H1 2008: 3.3 million) vehicles worldwide. Although the overall market contracted by around 18 percent, Group deliveries decreased by only 4.4 percent. Consequently, its share of the global passenger car market rose to 12.0 percent (9.9 percent).

[Wolverine]

These are great news indeed, the efforts are showing the results.

Where is AS to bring the bad news?? HEheheehehe.