The Detroit Three are having trouble with cars and with small crossover SUVs.
With a seasonally adjusted annual selling rate – SAAR – of 18.2 million light vehicles, US October sales were strong based on increasing demand for pickup trucks, SUVs and crossover vehicles. These were up for the month 24% at 823,000 or 12% at 7.1 million year-to-date. Cars meanwhile were off – 7% at 619,000 for the month and -2.1% at 5.9 million ytd, according to AutoData.
Offshore brands maintained share of the US market in October, at 54% equal to their share of the September auto market. Together, they sold 785,495 units, up from 778,114 in September, but down from 872,838 in August. Detroit Three nameplates held 46% of the October auto market, compared to the 46.1% share they held last month with sales of 670,045 vehicles.
In the all-important Top Ten selling list, the Detroit Three pickup trucks easily swept the first three places. However, offshore brand models in October took the reaming seven of the Top Ten sales spots for the month.
“October marks the second month in a row of a recorded SAAR above 18 million,” said AIADA President Cody Lusk. “That hasn’t happened since 2000. We know consumers are feeling confident in the economy and the proof is in the numbers.”
AutoData said that the SAAR in October was 18.24 million units versus 16.58 million units a year ago. Industry-wide, 1,455,516 light vehicles were sold last month, compared to 1,442,460 in September. Sales for all brands in 2015, unadjusted for business days, are up 5.8% from 2014 and 13.6% from October 2014.
