Automotive News - January 28, 2008 - (Page 17) JANUARY 28, 2008 • 17 Mexico vehicle sales, December & 12 mos. Dec. 2007 Dec. 2006 12 mos. 2007 12 mos. 2006 Car Truck BMW Car Truck CHRYSLER LLC† FERRARI Fiat import car Fiat import truck FIAT AUTO S.p.A. Ford car Ford truck Jaguar car Land Rover import truck.. Volvo car Volvo truck FORD Car Truck GENERAL MOTORS Car Truck HONDA ISUZU truck Car Truck MAZDA Mercedes-Benz car Mercedes-Benz truck Smart car MERCEDES-BENZ GROUP† Car Truck MITSUBISHI Car Truck NISSAN Car Truck PEUGEOT Car Truck PORSCHE Car Truck RENAULT Car Truck SUBARU Car Truck SUZUKI Car Truck TOYOTA Audi car Audi truck Bentley car Seat car Seat truck VW car VW truck VOLKSWAGEN Domestic car Import car Total car Domestic truck Import truck Total truck Total domestic Total import TOTAL SALES 965 287 1,252 5,277 11,024 16,301 1 252 118 370 4,092 10,798 10 80 135 40 15,155 16,563 9,995 26,558 3,756 2,761 6,517 68 954 1,108 2,062 522 563 74 1,159 863 1,602 2,465 16,654 8,478 25,132 1,086 82 1,168 33 34 67 1,549 270 1,819 73 28 101 358 409 767 4,013 4,854 8,867 437 95 4 1,725 1 13,255 1,019 16,536 33,604 39,047 72,651 12,191 41,523 53,714 45,795 80,570 126,365 877 110 987 6,290 9,997 16,287 3 281 28 309 6,750 14,239 42 94 146 111 21,382 18,551 10,222 28,773 2,913 3,987 6,900 – 723 510 1,233 503 213 35 751 904 1,365 2,269 21,997 9,432 31,429 1,455 159 1,614 42 14 56 1,847 257 2,104 34 26 60 142 349 491 3,152 4,394 7,546 409 60 1 2,185 – 13,878 1,622 18,155 40,794 42,366 83,160 11,284 45,905 57,189 52,078 88,271 140,349 7,495 2,407 9,902 46,064 82,477 128,541 12 2,511 789 3,300 45,586 107,198 199 909 1,951 770 156,613 140,400 90,002 230,402 28,271 26,531 54,802 171 8,180 8,424 16,604 4,693 3,077 554 8,324 8,554 9,112 17,666 142,097 72,024 214,121 11,893 1,694 13,587 349 424 773 14,871 3,742 18,613 470 233 703 2,268 3,432 5,700 30,290 35,918 66,208 4,128 772 27 15,644 25 120,750 12,490 153,836 296,659 340,598 637,257 106,127 356,494 462,621 402,786 697,092 1,099,878 6,955 1,938 8,893 58,578 69,868 128,446 28 962 78 1,040 59,911 124,314 332 774 1,741 976 188,048 153,945 91,149 245,094 26,007 23,095 49,102 – 5,976 1,519 7,495 3,971 2,481 597 7,049 6,563 10,188 16,751 147,678 80,637 228,315 14,132 1,936 16,068 344 288 632 17,196 3,078 20,274 186 122 308 1,399 3,014 4,413 25,722 34,366 60,088 4,022 183 18 19,847 52 123,420 11,607 159,149 307,374 372,156 679,530 108,205 353,458 461,663 415,579 725,614 1,141,193 Mexican auto sales drop 3.6% in 2007 Q Stephen Downer autonews@crain.com Joe, why did you decide to write a book just for automotive salespeople? MEXICO CITY — The head of the Mexican Automotive Industry Association blamed economic uncertainty in Mexico for a 3.6 percent drop in lightvehicle sales in 2007. Sales dropped to 1,099,878 from 1,141,193 in 2006. Association President Cesar Flores Esquivel said total light-vehicle sales to the public last year were only a few thousand higher than in 2004. He blamed much of the downturn on the “uncertainty generated by the country’s fiscal reform and the gasoline price rises, which were announced but not implemented.” The fiscal restructuring, approved by the national congress late in 2007, will raise $11.4 billion in new tax income for the government. Other factors behind the sales decline include a drop in consumer confidence in the behavior of the national economy and the “credit saturation” reached by consumers, Flores said. The 2008 market “will be complicated,” said Adolfo Hegewisch, managing director of Toyota Motor Sales de Mexico. “I don’t want to talk about crisis or pessimism. I don’t think the factors are there to talk about pessimism.” Toyota sold 66,208 light vehicles in Mexico in 2007, up 10.2 percent. “Our plan is to sell 73,000 vehicles in 2008,” Hegewisch said. That would be a 10.3 percent gain. Flores said imported used vehicles from the United States also “undoubtedly affected the new-vehicle market in Mexico, especially in the low-price and minivan segments.” He added that it had been estimated that during 2007, more used vehicles were imported than new cars sold in Mexico. In December alone, new light-vehicle sales in Mexico fell to 126,365, down 10.0 percent from a year earlier. Sales by market leader General Motors slid 6.0 percent in 2007 to 230,402 units. Nissan Motor Co., the No. 2 seller, posted a 6.2 percent drop. It sold 214,121 vehicles. Ford Motor Co. barely kept its No. 3 ranking. Its sales fell 16.7 percent to 156,613, while sales at No. 4 Volkswagen AG dipped 3.3 percent to 153,836. Chrysler LLC was the only automaker in the top five with higher sales last year, rising 0.1 percent, or 95 vehicles, to 128,541. Mazda Motor Corp. reported the best growth among automakers with sales of more than 10,000 in Mexico. Mazda sales more than doubled to 16,604 from 7,495 in 2006. c “How To Sell A Car Today” I dedicated the book to every salesperson who has the guts to work on straight commission. I wrote this book because we get thousands of requests every year from salespeople and managers asking for affordable information on how to sell. That’s why the first run sold out before it was printed! Unfortunately, this industry still runs ads that say “No experience necessary, we train” and then nothing happens once they’re hired. How To Sell to Today’s Buyers! 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GM seeks global input for future Cadillacs Rick Kranz rkranz@crain.com †DaimlerChrysler sold the Chrysler group on Aug. 3, 2007; Chrysler LLC and Mercedes-Benz Group totals through July 2007 are extracted from DaimlerChrysler. *Estimate Source: Automotive News Data Center and Mexican Automotive Manufacturers Association Mexico vehicle production, December & 12 mos. Dec. 2007 Dec. 2006 12 mos. 2007 12 mos. 2006 Total car 9,694 Total truck 8,950 CHRYSLER LLC† 18,644 Total car 7,399 Total truck 2,255 FORD MOTOR CO 9,654 Total car 11,642 Total truck 18,687 GENERAL MOTORS 30,329 Total car – Total truck 3,160 HONDA 3,160 INTERNATIONAL Export truck 518 Total car 25,663 Total truck 3,420 NISSAN 29,083 RENAULT Mexico car 848 TOYOTA Export truck 2,969 Total car 31,141 Total truck – VOLKSWAGEN 31,141 OTHER Mexico truck* 2,979 Mexico car 18,468 Export car 67,919 Total car 86,387 Mexico truck 11,905 Export truck 31,033 Total truck 42,938 Total Mexico 30,373 Total Export 98,952 TOTAL PRODUCTION 129,325 6,848 11,708 18,556 19,231 2,901 22,132 11,428 19,289 30,717 1,580 – 1,580 939 23,438 3,167 26,605 560 2,088 25,797 77 25,874 4,224 18,987 69,895 88,882 12,452 31,941 44,393 31,439 101,836 133,275 114,508 169,417 283,925 255,870 37,934 293,804 172,557 295,110 467,667 15,471 10,903 26,374 10,333 437,524 49,593 487,117 9,437 34,100 409,566 1,563 411,129 60,186 291,958 1,122,975 1,414,933 171,195 497,944 669,139 463,153 1,620,919 2,084,072 159,730 153,890 313,620 293,163 37,190 330,353 189,069 313,433 502,502 24,262 – 24,262 19,557 346,590 50,776 397,366 9,943 34,465 347,020 1,307 348,327 62,278 310,851 1,058,926 1,369,777 180,578 492,318 672,896 491,429 1,551,244 2,042,673 DETROIT — In yet another attempt to turn Cadillac into a successful global brand, General Motors this year will take a group of designers to China, Russia and other countries to learn what it might take to get BMW and Mercedes-Benz buyers behind the wheel of a Cadillac. This is a major change in productdevelopment strategy for GM. Generally speaking, today’s Cadillacs are developed for North American buyers, then sold in other markets. “What we see happening in China is profound in terms of how quickly and exponentially the growth is happening,” said Clay Dean, Cadillac’s new global design director. “The luxury market is going to be big in China. It isn’t big there yet, but it will be big in the first- and second-tier cities.” Leaders from GM’s Asia Pacific regions met Jan. 17 with GM management in Detroit to discuss Cadillac’s potential in China. Dean said Cadillac’s product portfolio was a key topic. A rear-drive large sedan debuting around 2011 or 2012 will be the first Cadillac developed for a global customer instead of a North American buyer, said Dean. That sedan is expected to replace the STS and DTS and compete with the MercedesBenz E class and BMW 5 series. “When we look at our direct competitors — BMW, Mercedes and Audi — they are global brands,” Dean said. Particularly in terms of vehicle size, he said: “They have product that is acceptable and more appropriate around the world. We have a North American portfolio.” Trying to sell U.S.-oriented vehicles globally has been a dismal failure for Cadillac. Last year Cadillac said it sold 15,722 vehicles outside North America, up from 9,581 in 2006. In 2007, 7,022 Cadillacs were sold in China, the No. 3 market for Cadillac behind Canada. Cadillac sold 3,023 vehicles in Europe and 1,485 in Russia last year. Sales of the BLS, a mid-sized sedan and wagon sold in Europe, have been disappointing. GM plans to add a small rwd sedan that will replace the BLS around 2010 and be targeted at the BMW 3 series. A small all-wheeldrive crossover inspired by the Provoq concept also is planned. But Dean said those vehicles will arrive before the new vehicle development strategy takes effect. c Order today a http://joeverde.com/store http://joeverde.com/store http://gmdealergroupadvertising.com http://autonews.com/classifieds http://autonews.com/classifieds
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