Automotive News - June 9, 2008 - (Page 39)

JUNE 9, 2008 • 39 U.S. light-vehicle sales – continued May 2008 May 2007 5 mos. 2008 5 mos. 2007 Rogue (I) 7,467 Titan 2,163 Xterra 1,914 Total Nissan Division truck 27,055 Total Nissan Division 90,379 Total Nissan North America car 71,097 Total Nissan North America truck 29,777 Nissan North America domestic 76,183 Nissan North America import 24,691 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA 100,874 Boxster (I) 334 911 Carrera/Carrera 4 (I) 832 911 Carrera GT (I) – Cayman (I) 438 Total Porsche car (I) 1,604 Porsche truck Cayenne (I) 1,192 PORSCHE 2,796 Baja – Forester (I) 6,412 Impreza (I) 4,301 Legacy 6,512 Total Subaru car 17,225 Subaru truck Tribeca 1,211 Subaru domestic 7,723 Subaru import 10,713 SUBARU 18,436 Aerio/SX4 (I) 3,975 Forenza/Reno (I) 3,437 Verona (I) – Total Suzuki car (I) 7,412 Grand Vitara (I) 1,455 XL-7/XL7 (D/I) 1,497 Total Suzuki truck 2,952 Suzuki domestic 1,497 Suzuki import 8,867 SUZUKI 10,364 ES 330/350 (I) 6,831 GS 350/430/450h (I) 1,708 IS 250/350 (I) 5,420 LS 430/600h (I) 2,115 SC 430 (I) 216 Total Lexus car (I) 16,290 GX 470 (I) 1,394 LX 470/570 (I) 827 RX 330/350 (D) 5,567 RX 330/350/400h (I) 2,515 Total RX 330/350/400h 8,082 Total Lexus truck 10,303 Total Lexus 26,593 tC (I) 5,166 xA (I) 4 xB (I) 5,351 xD (I) 4,337 Total Scion car (I) 14,858 Avalon 4,269 Camry (D) 50,495 Camry (I) 796 Total Camry 51,291 Corolla/Matrix (D/I) 52,826 Echo (I) – Prius (I) 15,011 Yaris (I) 14,397 Total Toyota Division car 137,794 4Runner (I) 4,286 FJ Cruiser (I) 2,404 Highlander (I) 10,841 Land Cruiser (I) 473 RAV4 (I) 14,917 Sequoia 3,575 Sienna 12,178 Tacoma 17,341 Tundra 12,144 Total Toyota Division truck 78,159 Total Toyota Division 215,953 Total Toyota Motor Sales car 168,942 Total Toyota Motor Sales truck 88,462 Toyota Motor Sales domestic 147,497 Toyota Motor Sales import 109,907 TOYOTA MOTOR SALES 257,404 A3 (I) 436 A4/S4 (I) 4,861 A5/S5 (I) 449 A6/S6 (I) 904 A8/S8 (I) 205 R8 (I) 61 TT (I) 497 Total Audi car (I) 7,413 Audi truck Q7 (I) 1,121 Total Audi (I) 8,534 Bentley car (I) 251 Eos (I) 1,807 Golf/GTI/R32 (I) 1,474 Jetta 8,303 New Beetle 3,487 Passat (I) 3,694 Phaeton (I) – Rabbit (I) 2,393 Total VW division car 21,158 Tiguan (I) 679 Touareg (I) 509 Total VW division truck (I) 1,188 Total VW division 22,346 Total VW Group of America car 28,822 Total VW Group of America truck 2,309 VW Group of America domestic 11,790 VW Group of America import 19,341 VW GROUP OF AMERICA 31,131 Domestic car 549,711 Import car 273,791 Total U.S. car 823,502 Domestic light truck 476,185 Import light truck 97,723 Total U.S. light truck 573,908 Total domestic light vehicle 1,025,896 Total import light vehicle 371,514 TOTAL U.S. LIGHT VEHICLE 1,397,410 Note: (D) = produced in North America; (I) = imported to U.S. Source: Automotive News Data Center and company sources – 4,899 3,334 30,284 82,314 59,911 33,151 74,475 18,587 93,062 412 1,227 – 590 2,229 1,119 3,348 – 3,871 3,981 7,264 15,116 1,166 8,430 7,852 16,282 1,538 4,514 28 6,080 1,949 2,161 4,110 2,132 8,058 10,190 8,572 2,043 5,722 3,196 410 19,943 1,842 264 7,259 2,539 9,798 11,904 31,847 6,615 1,297 3,658 – 11,570 6,435 42,476 7,650 50,126 45,238 – 24,009 10,949 136,757 6,908 4,639 11,991 205 16,547 1,967 12,837 16,028 17,727 88,849 225,606 168,270 100,753 145,633 123,390 269,023 770 4,059 – 1,189 339 – 473 6,830 1,958 8,788 405 1,491 1,357 10,371 3,173 3,116 4 2,500 22,012 – 313 313 22,325 29,247 2,271 13,544 17,974 31,518 558,085 246,328 804,413 645,686 114,289 759,975 1,203,771 360,617 1,564,388 30,812 15,925 14,033 151,095 393,909 281,323 165,151 324,185 122,289 446,474 1,284 3,934 – 1,876 7,094 5,342 12,436 1 21,739 19,490 29,263 70,493 5,595 34,859 41,229 76,088 14,421 10,458 2 24,881 6,328 15,254 21,582 15,251 31,212 46,463 27,430 7,846 21,936 10,029 1,076 68,317 7,904 3,547 25,579 11,111 36,690 48,141 116,458 19,575 35 21,241 13,153 54,004 21,273 193,693 4,616 198,309 152,308 – 79,675 56,208 507,773 24,282 14,961 54,517 2,163 61,919 14,100 57,692 72,704 66,278 368,616 876,389 630,094 416,757 582,754 464,097 1,046,851 1,950 18,292 2,123 4,833 1,241 271 2,057 30,767 6,053 36,820 1,413 6,634 7,020 37,415 11,690 16,281 – 9,253 88,293 679 3,344 4,023 92,316 120,473 10,076 49,105 81,444 130,549 2,229,029 1,070,777 3,299,806 2,438,960 485,952 2,924,912 4,667,989 1,556,729 6,224,718 – 28,668 21,988 169,831 389,929 260,119 183,047 345,583 97,583 443,166 1,544 5,811 4 2,480 9,839 4,753 14,592 878 18,467 16,885 30,963 67,193 5,853 37,694 35,352 73,046 6,776 19,974 213 26,963 8,745 11,455 20,200 11,064 36,099 47,163 33,166 9,147 22,494 14,941 1,705 81,453 8,658 1,330 28,532 11,360 39,892 49,880 131,333 27,041 8,096 13,331 – 48,468 31,861 158,268 35,632 193,900 165,722 2 76,747 37,367 505,599 37,938 25,271 53,496 1,078 72,447 10,896 60,569 77,127 61,113 399,935 905,534 635,520 449,815 576,166 509,169 1,085,335 2,920 17,987 – 4,919 1,626 – 1,157 28,609 9,313 37,922 1,956 5,194 6,229 40,169 12,052 15,545 16 9,024 88,229 – 3,514 3,514 91,743 118,794 12,827 52,221 79,400 131,621 2,282,480 1,029,868 3,312,348 2,935,119 545,528 3,480,647 5,217,599 1,575,396 6,792,995 May in Detroit: Scary, not merry John K. Teahen Jr. jteahen@crain.com news ANALYSIS More sales tables ➤ 40 Can the Detroit 3’s U.S. sales get any worse? Last month, the domestic brand sales of the Detroit 3 were down a collective 23.4 percent from May 2007 — down 27.6 percent for General Motors, 25.4 percent for Chrysler LLC and 15.6 percent for Ford Motor Co. The three companies had only 44.4 percent of the U.S. market in May while import-brand automakers captured 55.6 percent. May was only the fifth month in history that imports have outsold the Detroit 3, and the imports’ share had never previously topped 52.6 percent. The market share of GM’s domestic brands was 19.1 percent last month, matching the company’s share for all of 1925. At no time since then has it been that low. In those days, Ford was the sales leader. But GM has not been topped in sales since 1930. How bad was May in Detroit? GM’s domestic brands finished just 9,340 sales ahead of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. (Toyota, Lexus and Scion). Toyota’s market share of 18.4 percent was just a step behind GM’s share. Top 10 vehicles May 2008 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Honda Civic Toyota Corolla/Matrix Toyota Camry Honda Accord Ford F series Chevrolet Silverado Nissan Altima Ford Focus Chevrolet Cobalt Chevrolet Impala 53,299 52,826 51,291 43,728 42,973 37,020 34,428 32,579 26,702 23,8032007 2008 14 12 0 J M M J J S O N Source: Automotive News Data Center and company sources Strange month May sales overall were the highest of any month this year, but they were the lowest for May since 1995. Last month’s total was 1,397,410 units, down 10.7 percent from May 2007. For the first five months of 2008, the sales count was 6,224,718 cars and trucks, off 8.4 percent from the yearago period. Still, the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate was 15.1 million units in May, compared with 14.7 million in April. The collapse of light-truck sales accelerated last month. Pickup sales were down 31.4 percent; SUV sales plummeted 41.0 percent. Gasoline at $4-plus a gallon was a big factor. Add to that the drop in trade-in values. Even people who want new pickups and SUVs — and there are fewer of them — find they can’t afford the trucks. The Ford F-series pickup, long the nation’s best-selling vehicle, finished just fifth last month. The Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla/Matrix, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord all outsold the F series. Ford was quick to react to being shoved out of the top spot. Shades of 2006: This month, ordinary mortals can buy or lease an F-series pickup for the same price Ford employees pay. The offer applies to F-150, F-250 and F-350 models. Even sales of crossovers, the new darlings of the auto industry, fell 5.5 percent last month. Perspective How the past 5 Mays rank for U.S. light-vehicle sales 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 2004 2007 2005 2006 2008 1,630,224 1,564,388 1,500,135 1,490,042 1,397,410 Source: Automotive News Data Center and company sources Make way for cars The car market is coming back, but Detroit 3 cars are not coming with it. In May, GM, Ford and Chrysler had only one-third of new-car sales. The imports also sell more trucks than they did a decade or so ago, but they did not give up on cars. Last month, car sales overall were up 2.4 percent, but import-brand car sales rose 11.6 percent. At the same time, Detroit 3 car sales fell 12.4 percent. Hummer sales, down 60.2 percent, led the May disaster for the Detroit 3. At the other, slightly less dismal end of the scale, Ford brand sales slipped 13.2 percent, and Jeep sales dropped 16.4 percent. The 10 other domestic makes were down between 20 and 40 percent. Through May, Ford had a healthy lead over Chevrolet in their annual battle for brand sales supremacy. But that wasn’t the big news. Toyota Division held a commanding lead over both of the domestic kingpins. The five-month score: Toyota, 876,389 sales; Ford, 830,452; Chevrolet, 799,760. In May alone, the Toyota brand swamped Chevrolet by 49,755 sales.c HUMMER Insiders: GM leaders see it as a liability continued from Page 1 Past its peak Powered by the H3, Hummer’s U.S. sales peaked in 2006. 75,000 For an expanded version of this table, go to www.autonews.com/datacenter lowed up with a pickup version and the mid-sized H3. Now, insiders say, leaders sees the brand as a liability that’s hard to sell and hard to make fuel-efficient. GM has said that 35 of the 170 Hummer dealers have stand-alone stores, with the rest paired with other GM brands. Earlier this year, Hummer General Manager Martin Walsh said GM had devised a reconfigured interior to make the Quonset huts suitable for other brands in the premium channel. Wagoner has to be realistic about Hummer’s future. “GM has to focus on increasing profitability on volume vehicles, and Hummer doesn’t do it,” said Jim Hall, a former GM employee and managing director at 2953 Analytics, a consulting firm in suburban Det http://www.autonews.com/datacenter

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - June 9, 2008

Automotive News - June 9, 2008 Hummer Bummer: A death sentence? New F-150, Ram in peril as big pickups collapse Japanese can add small cars faster than Detroit 3 Battery shortage hurts hybrid sales 2 key overseas staffers move to Automotive News in the U.S. Toyota may add Camry to Indiana truck plant Mazda extends warranty on RX-8 rotary engine CAW to consider strike against GM Porsche's new 911 GM plans big ad push for its big hybrid SUVs Chrysler cuts fees to outside service firms 5% Toyota considering 'Made in U.S.A.' Prius Congress, Bush square off over rollover suits GM finance whiz changed the industry GM's big SUVs may get lighter Harbour Report: Chrysler, Toyota most efficient Spring intros can be dicey Ford spends big on MKS ad launch Media buyer for GM cuts 25 jobs Sources: GM poised to buy Cobasys GM dealer program rebounds Mazda updates the RX-8 New Maxima is a tad smaller — but more buff Congress must balance safety, mpg concerns Is the gas crisis real or just temporary? What about poor driving? There's no substitute for safe driving Lack of regulation foils safety laws Sticker law cleaned up a pricing mess Lithia to sell outlets, delay used-car stores Nielsen likes to step off the beaten path GM union local strives to pull parts jobs in-house JCI will open Ga. plant to supply Kia Dealers: Be open about credit problems Finance venture has $1 billion Picture this Personnel Dealers BMW purchasing chief 'looking for waste' Nissan Mexicana gets new chief Ford Flex output begins Hyundai Genesis: $33,000 Ford buys more from minorities Audi's U.S. chief: Brand can handle high gas prices May in Detroit: Scary, not merry Infiniti FX starts at $41,765 Lincoln: 8,600 MKS orders Plastics supplier sees growth Jenkins gets Aston Martin post Smith is CEO of Jaguar, Land Rover Kremlin watching, Chrysler style Toyota breathing down GM's neck on monthly U.S. sales PR chief Steve Harris: At GM through '08 Small-car surge is a replay of 1979 Auto execs would benefit from some store experience Mini's mixed results: Sales soar, quality stumbles Nice car — so what's the ppmpg? Volt's good PR got struck by lightning

Automotive News - June 9, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.