Automotive News - April 14, 2008 - (Page 10)

10 • APRIL 14, 2008 What they’re buying — and what they’re not John K. Teahen Jr. With gasoline heading for $4 a gallon and the U.S. economy slipping deeper into the doldrums, it’s time to look at what new-vehicle customers are and are not buying. In the first quarter of 2008, there were 3,578,680 sales of new cars and light trucks, down 8.0 percent or 310,885 units from the year-ago quarter. Let’s do the easy part first. Consumers are not buying trucks. Pickup sales dipped 15.0 percent in the first quarter, and SUV sales plunged 24.5 percent. Four of the five SUV segments were in free fall, with losses of salestales John K. Teahen Jr. is the senior editor of Automotive News. more than 23 percent. But sales in the premium-large group were off just 10.1 percent. People who can afford those big boats are not much concerned with the price of gasoline. Premium-large SUVs include the Cadillac Escalade, Lincoln Navigator, Hummer, Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz G and GL and Volkswagen Touareg. Strangely, sales of some highpriced SUVs rose in the quarter. Deliveries of the Lexus LX more than doubled. Porsche Cayenne sales rose 11.0 percent. The Infiniti QX56 was up 10.6 percent. And the Toyota Land Cruiser, which has barely changed since it arrived in this country 50 years ago, spurted up 78.4 percent. Twelve minivans are on the market, and buyers are saying “no, thank you” to eight of them. The four other nameplates account for nearly 80 percent of sales: the Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan, Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna. Overall minivan sales fell 20 percent for the quarter. Better, but not good Here are some glad tidings: Sales of crossovers — those station wagons that are classified as trucks — rose 6.1 percent for the quarter. But there’s bad news in the crossover world, too. There are 44 crossovers on the market, which would seem to be about enough. My advice to would-be entrants: Unless your product is outstanding, forget it. So much for the sad story of the truck market. Let’s look at cars, where the clouds are almost as thick. U.S. buyers are supposed to be screaming for small cars. Maybe so, but people aren’t necessarily buying them — except for the smallest and cheapest. The five nameplates in Automotive News’ budget class posted a rousing 33.6 percent sales advance in the first quarter. They are the Chevrolet Aveo, Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, Toyota Yaris and brand-new Smart for Two. The rest of the small-car segment barely held its own, with a quarterly dip of 2.3 percent. The segment has 17 entrants, including the Chevrolet Cobalt, Ford Focus, Honda Fit, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Spectra, Nissan Sentra and Toyota Corolla/Matrix. Upscale bad, sporty worse Midrange cars total 43 nameplates, led by the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, the top-selling cars in the United States. But sales of the middies were down 2.5 percent in the first quarter. It gets worse. The upscale segment — near-luxury, luxury and superluxury cars — took a 7.1 percent sales bath in the first quarter. The segment has 36 nameplates, from the Acura TL and Audi A4 to Rolls-Royce and Maybach. Sales of almost three-fourths of those nameplates were down. Americans also turned away from sporty cars in the first quarter. Of the 33 models listed on the Automotive News sales chart, 26 suffered sales declines. On the upside: the Audi TT, Mini Cooper and Dodge Viper. You may e-mail John K. Teahen Jr. at jteahen@crain.com A real downer First-quarter sales leaders by market class, and how they did last year. 1st qtr sales 2008 Pct. chg. from 2007 SMALL Budget Toyota Yaris 30,377 Economy Toyota Corolla/Matrix 67,047 MIDRANGE Lower Honda Civic 77,532 Standard Toyota Camry 107,002 Premium Dodge Charger 27,018 UPSCALE Near-luxury BMW 3 series 27,013 Luxury BMW 5 series 10,890 Premium Mercedes-Benz S class 4,796 SPORTY Ford Mustang 24,477 PICKUPS Ford F series 148,138 MINIVANS Chrysler Town & Country 34,381 CROSSOVERS Entry Honda CR-V 50,684 Midrange Ford Edge 36,034 Premium Lexus RX 21,448 SUV Entry Jeep Liberty 23,047 Midrange Ford Explorer 27,638 Large Chrevrolet Tahoe 25,709 Premium Cadillac Escalade 6,667 Source: Automotive News Data Center 58.3 –24.0 13.8 1.1 –12.6 –18.6 –2.1 –27.8 –29.2 –13.7 –6.8 6.5 47.2 –3.5 –5.4 –20.4 –26.3 –22.5 http://www.imbranded.com http://www.imbranded.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - April 14, 2008

Dealership jobs hit 8-year low GM is the wild card in axle war Service contracts: Hard-sell tactics plague dealers, customers TV auto ads shift to online, mobile venues At seminar, marketing execs to discuss new ways to reach customers Better get to know the Nano — it's set to change the world Veteran Detroit 3 dealer: 'The future is quite bleak' Poll: Dealers scrounge for cuts Locals closer to GM strike Scion xB price rises $100 Valeo CEO: No breakup Tata Nano changes low-cost development Hyundai tailors TV, Web ads for Hispanics Study: Ads focused on vehicle qualities won on Oscar night Post-Celine, Chrysler ad guru seeks right note Chrysler's quest for quality lured Nissan exec Betts Search starts for in-vehicle alcohol detectors After S. Calif. success, Honda may fund ad groups Computer images gain ground in TV ads Web TV offers automakers new ad, sales options BMW: X6 will bring brand new buyers Diana T. Kurylko Chrysler fields 'dream' ads Nissan seeks dealerships for trucks Honda will export Alabama-built Pilots to Russia Toyota, Subaru work on 'affordable' sports car Cadillac's ad agency savors the sweet life Some stores may not sell Chrysler hybrids GM hybrids get off to a slow start in first quarter Lexus adds a personal touch to pamper owners, prospects What they're buying — and what they're not The age of fuel innovation is here Approaches to r&d vary Nano brings credibility to Indian engineering Honda must revisit online dealer sales of service pacts Chrysler got it right Mandates, markets and buyer demand For Detroit, some things never change Buick: As Chicago goes, so goes the nation Auto industry has lost a good man Accentuate the positive Ex-Porsche CEO: Cayenne spiced up sales Green programs shape battle for engineering grads Tata rewards suppliers with ties to India Bill aims to set minimum sound levels for vehicles Industry lobbyists step up emissions fight Seeking wider market, Nissan equips sports car for snow New chief of SAE has D.C. skills China and GM's answer to Nano — sort of $2,500 car is Ratan Tata's personal quest NADA offers training in risky credit Donna Harris Deal's goal: Widen appeal of dent-repair coverage Title committee created Vehicle loan delinquencies rise from 2007 Suppliers to the 2009 Tata Nano Odd China combo: Fuel sippers, SUVs Pontiac Vibe: A sporty hauler with Toyota touches Dealers J.D. Power III named tracking company partner Toyota will buy back rusted Tacomas 100,000 Flex sales a year? Farley: 'Absolutely' Ford wants word-of-mouth campaign Small suppliers feel the pain of axle strike Plastech tries to sell 2 units TRW plant will build Ford gears Toyota plans 2nd India plant Dodge launch goes digital Toyota, GM recall 660,000 vehicles for window flaws Lear announces white-collar layoffs March output drops 23.6% New Ford ads tout quality improvements Tata dealers must be handy with a wrench Can the Greens slow down the autobahn? Racy scandal for race exec Echoes from the grave: Olds still has cachet The Final Say

Automotive News - April 14, 2008

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