Category Archives: sales

Offshore Brands Down Slightly in U.S. Market Share in April

Auto brands from offshore automakers held a 55.3% of the U.S. auto market in April, a slight decrease from a 56.3% in March. In raw numbers this accounted for 654,086 units, compared with 791,169 in March.

This is hardly a ‘Buy American’ trend though, because in the first four months of 2011, foreign-owned brands averaged a strong 55.6% share of the U.S. auto market. Simply put the Detroit Three in spite of the demonstrably best most fuel efficient car offerings in history haven’t laid a glove on the invaders. Continue reading

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Hyundai Sales Flat in April as Capacity Constraints Hurt

“Never has a relatively flat sales month felt quite so good,” said Dave Zuchowski, Hyundai Motor America’s executive vice president of national sales. The question facing Hyundai remains how to increase production to find out what is the true demand for its hot selling, highly styled vehicle lines? It has been clear for more than a year now that Hyundai needs another plant, a risk that management has so far been reluctant to take. Continue reading

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Chrysler Group April 2012 U.S. Sales Increase 20% to 141,000

Chrysler Group today reported April U.S. sales of 141,165 units, a 20% increase compared with sales in April 2011 of 117,225 units. It was the comeback car company’s best sales performance in the month of April since 2008 when it was speeding toward bankruptcy and a taxpayer bailout.

During April Chrysler Group recorded its 25th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains and its 11th-straight month of sales increases of at least 20%. Based on preliminary sales numbers, Chrysler Group beat the average sales increase for the auto industry for the 14th-consecutive month. Continue reading

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General Motors U.S. April Sales Down 8% in a Growing Market

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) today reported April sales of 213,387 vehicles in the United States, a decline of 8% in a month that looks to be running at more than 14 million units on a seasonally adjusted basis, an increase of at least 12%. Buick one again posted a decline, this time -25% at 15,450 vehicles, with the mid-size Regal off -37% at 2,850. The compact and less expensive Verona sold 3,000 sedans. This begs the question whether Buick in particularly, perhaps General Motors overall, has been too aggressive in raising prices to boost profitability. The brands aren’t strong enough and the competition remains formidable. Once again Chrysler posted a 20% sales increase to 141,000 vehicles in April, and my bet is GM and Ford are where the growth is coming from to a large degree. Continue reading

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Ford Motor U.S. Sales Drop 5% in April. Car Sales off 11%

Ford Motor U.S. sales decreased 5% in April to 180,350 vehicles, with car sales dropping 11% at 64,790. Fleet sales were 37% of the mix. Overall, Ford Motor Sales were buoyed by trucks and sport utilities, but Ford is now facing a strong challenge from Toyota Motor Sales, which is expected to be up almost 12% in April when Toyota reports later today. Toyota is closing in on Ford’s Number Two U.S. sales ranking. Continue reading

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Chrysler Provides Most of Q1 Fiat Group Profits of €866m

The weak consolidated Fiat-Chrysler Group return of 4.2% on sales of more than €20 billion stood in stark contrast to Chrysler Group’s return of 7% on €872 million in revenues during the quarter reported earlier in the day. Simply put, courtesy of U.S. and Canadian taxpayers, a reorganized Chrysler, now 58.5% owned by Fiat, is providing the profits for the newly created Fiat-Chrysler Group. Continue reading

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Renault Group Q1 Sales, Revenues Drop from Eurozone Crisis

The problem was almost entirely in the home French market which shrunk by 19.4%. As a result, Renault Group’s European market share decreased to 9.1%. The EU is heading for its fifth straight year of auto sales declines as politicians and bankers continue to pursue policies that increase unemployment and decrease economic activity. The mix of sales outside Europe reached 46%, up 8 points compared to the first quarter 2011. Continue reading

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Bentley Mulsanne Diamond Jubilee Debuts in Beijing

Bentley unveiled the first example of its new Mulsanne Diamond Jubilee Edition, which will be limited to 60 cars – one per year of the Queen’s reign. The car for one-per centers – or even 0.01-percenters – is expected to sell for more than $960,000. Continue reading

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Spring Auto Selling Season Sags as April Sales Rate Slows

Even rich people are apparently now concerned about the large depreciation rates of their luxury vehicles, which drives up the cost of ownership as trade-in values or lease residuals droop. The improved content and features in recent non-luxury vehicles offer a better value for consumers returning to the marketplace, especially if their needs are not ego driven. The problem for automakers is compounded by market forces, which are prompting free maintenance on non-luxury cars, once the sole province of expensive vehicles. Continue reading

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Ford China Sales Drop Again in Q1 as March Continues Slump

This is the third straight monthly decline for Ford in China, and it comes at a time when Ford is aggressively expanding its capacity there, an unfortunate development for shareholders and the Ford balance sheet, which needs the cash flow from increasing sales to build new plants. All major automakers have announced ambitious expansion plans in China, the world’s largest auto market. However, in 2011 the Chinese auto market only grew by 5%, by far the lowest growth rate of the 21st century, as the communist central government deliberately slowed the economy in an attempt to fight inflation. Continue reading

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March, Q1 EU Sales Drop Again. Eurozone Crisis Continues

If this trend keeps up, and given contractionist policies of the EU governments, there is no reason to predict any economic stimulus, 2012 might see an even greater drop in auto sales than those incurred during the Great Recession in 2008-2009. Continue reading

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Global Auto Sales Forecast to Top 79 Million in 2012

The positive trend in auto sales is pointing to the best year since 2007, before the reckless practices of Wall Street sent economies into the Great Recession, and caused large unemployment rates and deficits in most countries. Continue reading

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BMW Group Sales Set All-Time Global Record in March, Q1

During Q1 BMW also achieved a new high for the first three months. Retail volumes for the year to the end of March increased by more than 40,000 vehicles to 425,528 units (Q1 2011 – 382,763 units), which represents a growth of 11.2% compared with the first quarter of 2011. Continue reading

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Honda Says it Will Double Sales in China By 2015

During 2011 Honda sold 618,000 cars in China last year, dwarfed by market leader General Motor’s 2.55 million and Volkswagen Group’s 2.26 million. Among the Japanese Big Three, Nissan in China is twice as big as Honda and Toyota is 40% larger in terms of vehicle sales. Continue reading

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GM Sets March and Quarterly Sales Records in China

General Motors and its communist government mandated joint ventures in China sold 257,944 vehicles in March and 745,152 vehicles in the first quarter of 2012, setting both March and quarterly records. Continue reading

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