Bad news for Detroit dependents and the UAW came as offshore brands took 56.5% of the market.
U.S. auto sales compared to August 2013 were up but it is too soon to celebrate given that industrial production, which measures the output of U.S. manufacturers, utilities and mines, fell 0.1% in August from the prior month, according to the Federal Reserve. Lower fuel prices, an early Labor Day, and government’s ongoing printing of money – resulting in numerous zero-finance deals – for the moment kept the auto industry humming.
The bad news for Detroit supplicants and the UAW came from the fact that offshore brands took a 56.5% share of the August auto market, up from 55.9% last month and 53.8% in June. All told, these savvy companies – based in other countries – sold 895,602 vehicles, an improvement compared to the 802,355 vehicles in July and 764,029 sold in June.
AutoData says that the seasonally adjusted annual rate – aka SAAR – for August was 17.53 million units compared to 15.94 million units a year ago. This is the highest SAAR since January 2006. Industry-wide 1.586 million vehicles were sold in August. Sales for all brands, unadjusted for business days, were up 5.5% from August 2013 and 5.1% year-over-year.
With a 48% share, Asian brands held the largest chunk of the U.S. auto market, improving on the 46.9% share of the market they held in July. This made for sales of 760,533 vehicles, up from 673,783 vehicles last month. Sales for Asian brands were up 7% compared to sales in August 2013 and have improved 6.2% for the year-to-date. European brands, whose countries continue to let the U.S. pay for their defense in money and blood, captured 8.5% of the market, down from the 9% share they held in July. However, sales were up as European brands sold 132,547 vehicles compared to128,572 in July. This was a 1.9% increase from last August and the year-to-date. Detroit Three brands- and we are including Italian owned Chrysler Group here – finished August with 43.5% of the market, down from 44.1% in July.
Vehicles made by Toyota, Honda, and Nissan held seven of the month’s top ten selling vehicles. In second place overall after the Ford F-Series, the Honda Accord beat the Toyota Camry as the most popular car in the U.S. Sales of the midsize car were up 32.5% over last August. The Toyota Camry moved to fourth place after another pickup the Chevrolet Silverado. In sixth place behind the Ram pickup, the Toyota RAV4 was up 51.5% over last August. The Toyota Corolla/Matrix took a ninth place finish with sales up 23.2% over last August. In seventh and eighth places, the CR-V and Civic rounded out Honda’s strong position on the month’s top ten list. The Nissan Altima maintained its position in tenth place, with sales up 3.8% from last August, was the Nissan Altima. Not a Detroit Three car in sight here…
