Automotive News - March 10, 2008 - (Page 41)

MARCH 10, 2008 • 41 U.S. light-vehicle sales – continued Feb. 2008 Feb. 2007 2 mos. 2008 2 mos. 2007 Pathfinder 3,765 Quest 1,223 Rogue (I) 5,223 Titan 3,794 Xterra 3,548 Total Nissan Division truck 34,139 Total Nissan Division 76,151 Total Nissan North America car 49,335 Total Nissan North America truck 36,884 Nissan North America domestic 60,703 Nissan North America import 25,516 NISSAN NORTH AMERICA 86,219 Boxster (I) 124 911 Carrera/Carrera 4 (I) 602 911 Carrera GT (I) – Cayman (I) 234 Total Porsche car (I) 960 Porsche truck Cayenne (I) 755 PORSCHE 1,715 Baja 1 Forester (I) 2,971 Impreza (I) 3,642 Legacy 5,255 Total Subaru car 11,869 Subaru truck Tribeca 1,038 Subaru domestic 6,294 Subaru import 6,613 SUBARU 12,907 Aerio/SX4 (I) 2,414 Forenza/Reno (I) 1,216 Verona (I) – Total Suzuki car (I) 3,630 Grand Vitara (I) 1,408 XL-7 (D) 3,761 XL7 (I) 1 Total XL-7/XL7 3,762 Total Suzuki truck 5,170 Suzuki domestic 3,761 Suzuki import 5,039 SUZUKI 8,800 ES 330/350 (I) 4,795 GS 350 (I) 1,201 GS 430/450h (I) 221 IS 250/350 (I) 3,906 LS 460/600h (I) 1,891 SC 430 (I) 189 Total Lexus car (I) 12,203 GX 470 (I) 1,549 LX 470/570 (I) 569 RX 330/350/400h 6,956 Total Lexus truck 9,074 Total Lexus 21,277 tC (I) 3,261 xA (I) 10 xB (I) 3,824 xD (I) 1,788 Total Scion car (I) 8,883 Avalon 4,073 Camry (D) 33,992 Camry (I) 922 Total Camry 34,914 Corolla/Matrix (D) 20,147 Corolla (I) 1,055 Total Corolla/Matrix 21,202 Echo (I) – Prius (I) 10,893 Yaris (I) 9,758 Total Toyota Division car 80,840 4Runner (I) 4,961 FJ Cruiser (I) 3,520 Highlander (I) 10,513 Land Cruiser (I) 394 RAV4 (I) 10,377 Sequoia 2,617 Sienna 11,262 Tacoma 13,125 Tundra 14,400 Total Toyota Division truck 71,169 Total Toyota Division 152,009 Total Toyota Motor Sales car 101,926 Total Toyota Motor Sales truck 80,243 Toyota Motor Sales domestic 104,411 Toyota Motor Sales import 77,758 TOYOTA MOTOR SALES 182,169 A3 (I) 397 A4/S4 (I) 2,775 A5/S5 (I) 384 A6/S6 (I) 847 A8/S8 (I) 231 R8 (I) 62 TT (I) 326 Total Audi car (I) 5,022 Audi truck Q7 (I) 1,130 Total Audi (I) 6,152 Bentley car (I) 231 Eos (I) 964 Golf/GTI/R32 (I) 1,305 Jetta 6,823 New Beetle 1,535 Passat (I) 3,346 Phaeton (I) – Rabbit (I) 1,824 Total VW division car 15,797 VW division truck Touareg (I) 759 Total VW division 16,556 Total VW Group of America car 21,050 Total VW Group of America truck 1,889 VW Group of America domestic 8,358 VW Group of America import 14,581 VW GROUP OF AMERICA 22,939 Domestic car 404,658 Import car 171,697 Total U.S. car 576,355 Domestic light truck 503,975 Import light truck 95,924 Total U.S. light truck 599,899 Total domestic light vehicle 908,633 Total import light vehicle 267,621 TOTAL U.S. LIGHT VEHICLE 1,176,254 Note: (D) = produced in North America; (I) = imported to U.S. Source: Automotive News Data Center 4,999 2,551 – 6,058 4,850 34,265 75,514 48,445 36,773 66,691 18,527 85,218 195 1,086 2 324 1,607 360 1,967 217 2,887 2,946 5,776 11,826 964 6,957 5,833 12,790 1,254 3,138 46 4,438 1,634 2,402 111 2,513 4,147 2,402 6,183 8,585 5,286 1,388 175 3,937 2,423 282 13,491 1,672 269 7,086 9,027 22,518 4,366 1,722 2,868 – 8,956 5,583 24,990 7,158 32,148 25,549 2,772 28,321 1 12,227 5,702 83,982 7,555 5,040 9,368 226 11,643 2,312 11,039 15,022 9,669 71,874 155,856 106,429 80,901 98,996 88,334 187,330 504 3,004 – 893 262 – 199 4,862 1,747 6,609 394 725 1,099 6,652 2,398 3,140 4 1,426 15,444 923 16,367 20,700 2,670 9,050 14,320 23,370 409,909 176,328 586,237 569,501 99,576 669,077 979,410 275,904 1,255,314 6,698 3,098 10,658 7,486 7,062 63,018 144,112 94,761 68,063 117,469 45,355 162,824 343 1,431 – 773 2,547 1,763 4,310 1 5,373 6,733 10,141 22,248 1,948 12,090 12,106 24,196 4,380 2,456 1 6,837 2,306 6,774 3 6,777 9,083 6,774 9,146 15,920 9,141 2,471 431 7,168 3,797 372 23,380 3,206 1,279 13,711 18,196 41,576 6,208 19 7,143 3,385 16,755 8,228 64,553 1,962 66,515 40,869 1,069 41,938 – 22,272 17,424 156,377 10,431 6,591 22,836 854 21,274 4,994 21,668 24,189 26,473 139,310 295,687 196,512 157,506 200,456 153,562 354,018 708 5,689 726 1,830 503 123 652 10,231 2,339 12,570 598 1,834 2,474 13,311 3,280 5,447 – 3,307 29,653 1,314 30,967 40,482 3,653 16,591 27,544 44,135 767,308 325,994 1,093,302 941,362 186,693 1,128,055 1,708,670 512,687 2,221,357 9,828 5,054 – 11,284 9,904 65,781 149,194 97,244 70,618 133,465 34,397 167,862 369 2,008 2 808 3,187 1,764 4,951 485 5,626 5,631 11,033 22,775 2,089 13,607 11,257 24,864 2,261 6,527 80 8,868 3,181 4,491 224 4,715 7,896 4,491 12,273 16,764 10,606 2,756 358 7,332 5,429 584 27,065 3,385 556 13,630 17,571 44,636 8,779 3,480 5,701 – 17,960 12,112 47,834 15,775 63,609 48,311 5,529 53,840 1 20,526 11,572 161,660 14,885 9,988 19,690 460 23,568 4,370 21,888 28,085 15,990 138,924 300,584 206,685 156,495 187,211 175,969 363,180 813 6,239 – 1,794 570 – 209 9,625 3,383 13,008 636 1,421 2,469 14,352 4,066 5,921 6 2,764 30,999 1,978 32,977 41,260 5,361 18,418 28,203 46,621 772,774 342,380 1,115,154 1,032,476 199,137 1,231,613 1,805,250 541,517 2,346,767 Leap year added to Feb. misery John K. Teahen Jr. jteahen@crain.com news ANALYSIS More sales tables ➤ 42 February had an extra day this year. That provided one more day for U.S. sales of new vehicles to crawl into the Dumpster. Trucks did the damage. Car sales were off only 1.7 percent from February 2007. But sales of full-sized pickups plunged 13.5 percent, and SUVs took a real sales bath, with a loss of 23.3 percent. The high price of gasoline played a larger role than usual in the truck famine. The toll of $3 a gallon has become an established fact, but last month most of the talk was about when the price will reach $4 — not if, but when. Sales of Chevrolet’s big Silverado pickup went into the tank, down 24.9 percent. The Dodge Ram tumbled 20.9 percent, and the Nissan Titan plunged 37.4 percent. The Ford F series, the nation’s bestselling vehicle, held its own, down only 4.9 percent. The Toyota Tundra gained 48.9 percent in February, but the redesigned pickup was new and in short supply a year ago. Every class of SUV suffered a major loss. Entry-level SUVs — such as the Dodge Nitro, Jeep Wrangler and Liberty and Toyota FJ Cruiser — fell 19.6 percent. Midrange SUVs, such as the Dodge Durango, Ford Explorer and Hummer H3, dropped 24.9 percent. Sales of the big boys — such as the Chevy Suburban and Tahoe and the Ford Expedition — were 26.5 percent below last year. Premium-priced SUVs, such as the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator, gave up 5.7 percent. Perspective How the past 5 Februarys rank for U.S. light-vehicle sales 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 2004 2006 2007 2005 2008 1,277,706 1,261,669 1,255,314 1,254,389 1,176,254 Top 10 vehicles February 2008 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Ford F series Chevrolet Silverado Toyota Camry Honda Accord Chevrolet Impala Honda Civic Nissan Altima Dodge Ram Toyota Corolla/Matrix Chevrolet Cobalt 52,548 44,096 34,914 27,631 25,196 23,799 23,363 22,642 21,202 16,958 Source: Automotive News Data Center Prospect: 15.4 million sales The month’s total light-truck sales were 10.3 percent shy of last year’s, but that isn’t the whole story. Sales of crossovers rose 6.8 percent — and crossovers really aren’t trucks; they’re station wagons. Omitting crossovers, sales of pickups, vans and SUVs went down 16.7 percent last month. Overall, automakers reported U.S. sales of 1,176,254 cars and light trucks in February. That figure was down 6.3 percent from last year, which wasn’t anything to boast about. February’s total was the lowest for the month since 1998. So was the light-truck total. Car sales were the lowest in more than 27 years. For the first two months of 2008, the sales total of 2,221,357 cars and light trucks was down 5.3 percent from last year. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales was 15.4 million in February, down from 15.6 million in January. That rate remains above the 14.8 million sales total that, in the judgment of Automotive News, would represent an industry recession. U.S. sales in 2007 were 16,154,450 vehicles. February was another rotten month for the Detroit 3. Chrysler LLC’s sales were down 14.0 percent from last year. General Motors’ sales were down 12.8 percent, and Ford Motor Co.’s sales fell 6.4 percent. If it’s any consolation to the Detroiters, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A Inc. also reported a decline — of 2.8 percent. Cadillac was the only Detroit 3 brand to report a sales increase. It was up 2.0 percent, for a monthly gain of 278 units. The Detroit 3 had only 39.8 percent of the car market in February. Just eight Detroit 3 nameplates topped 10,000 sales for the month. GM had four of them: the Chevrolet Impala, Cobalt and Malibu and the Pontiac G6. The Ford Focus and Fusion each exceeded 10,000 sales. So did the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Caliber. Source: Automotive News Data Center Winners and losers February 2008 % change in sales from Feb. 2007 Winners 1. Mini 2. Mercedes-Benz 3. Mazda 4. Honda Division 5. Infiniti 44.2% 7.2% 6.7% 6.2% 3.8% –33.4% –21.9% –21.9% –19.5% –19.0% Losers 1. Saturn 2. Mercury 2. Saab 4. Hummer 5. GMC Source: Automotive News Data Center GM lost 1.7 points Despite their big downturn, light trucks still outsold cars in February by 23,544 units. The market-share breakout: Trucks, 51.0 percent; cars, 49.0 percent. That’s another indication of Detroit’s deficiency in the car market after neglecting cars for some 15 years to concentrate on trucks. Market shares were not pleasant reading for the Detroit 3. GM lost 1.7 points of U.S. share, to 22.7 percent. Chrysler dropped 1.1 points to 12.8 percent. Ford Motor held steady at 15.7 percent. Combined, the three companies had 51.2 percent of the market in February, down from 54.0 percent last year. Toyota Motor Sales’ dip in February resulted from drops of 5.5 percent for the Lexus brand, 3.7 percent for Toyota cars and 1.0 percent for Toyota trucks. Scion sales were down 73 units, a fraction of 1 percent. Tidings were better for American Honda Motor Co., up 4.9 percent with record February sales, and http://www.autonews.com/datacenter

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - March 10, 2008

Cheaper small cars are part of VW's U.S. plan Ford offers to buy back 81 stores As dollar dives, automakers juggle global strategies Jaguar-Land Rover deal will be signed within weeks GM Planworks chief leaves Jacoby cites dealer role in VW makeover Slim fast Nissan: Electric car to get here in 2010 Family honor Suddenly, Arkona's a key software player Chrysler may build vehicles in Russia Congress may ban mandated arbitration Volvo signs dealers willing to exit Breeding a hybrid? Prius could be a brand Honda adds benefits for same-sex partners Top China execs to speak at conference Manual for Challenger waits until '09 Ex-Sonic president: Gulf States raided Sonic GM, American Axle: Ties that bind Boardroom coup ousts Chamco executives False data imperil all auto financing Dealers would suffer if Calif. gets its way GM, Ford should bring Euro cars here Fresh ideas are fine, but Chrysler must be wary We need that 10% of useful inventions Safety options: Let consumers decide Tire monitors are full of problems Germany's labor setup just doesn't work Alabama adding auto jobs more slowly Engineer Banks strives to sip fuel, burn rubber Toyota Financial takes risks to aid dealers Honda captive beefs up dealer training in leasing NADA releases 2 subprime guides ADP develops e-sales brochure Credit unions' share of auto loans declines Upgraded auction ID carries a fee Dealers At hard-charging Hyundai, the plan is simple: More — now Genesis sedan's assignment: Boost image of all Hyundais Allied will supply sensing systems to Magna Haldex opens Mexico plant Behr gets Nano pact How Tupelo talked Toyota into building a plant there Infiniti FX showcases new Nissan technology Ford may consider hatchback for U.S. Audi to launch A4 sedan, wagon together BMW M3 convertible Saab hybrid concept has solar roof panels Toyota could bring tiny 4-seater to U.S. Hummer to push H3 pickup's usefulness New look for the SL Tiny Nano makes big waves GM's Opel unveils small hatchback that could become part of Saturn line Who says Americans don't want hatchbacks? 9-3 will dominate Saab marketing Lutz: Green takes greenbacks Leap year added to Feb. misery 9 U.S. Toyota executives will retire Ford gives employees $1,000 bonus Denso picks new N.A. CEO GM extends buyout offers CAW OKs TRW pact Lampert ups AutoNation stake Sagging Chrysler boosts spiffs Feb. output is up slightly Buick offers the Cadillac of caddies GM's board: The royal robe fits Fritz Be it metal or men, Geneva all about style Raising the roof (price) Italian cops bust Fiero-aris Consumer Reports' verdict on Chrysler products: Eeeee-uuw!

Automotive News - March 10, 2008

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