Tag Archives: results

Toyota, Honda Post Huge September Sales Gains, Nissan Stalls

Posted on 3 October 2012 by Ken Zino

Worrisome for competitors were increases in market share of 2.6% at Toyota, and 1.2% at Honda year-over-year, according to AutoData. Each percentage point in share is worth roughly $1 billion dollars in profits, according to an old industry rule of thumb. Left as road kill was Nissan whose share dropped more than 1% with sales of 92% units. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news, marketing, news analysis, results, sales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

General Motors September U.S. Vehicle Sales Up Slightly

Posted on 2 October 2012 by Ken Zino

General Motors reported September U.S. vehicle sales of 210,245 vehicles, an increase of 1.5% compared year-over-year to September 2011 in an industry that grew by 14.5%. GM sales executives, looking for a bright spot, said that passenger car sales increased to 89,000 from 69,000 for September, or +29%, compared to an industry gain of +23.5%. All GM brands increased their retail sales in what was another tough month for the U.S.’s largest automaker. The largest U.S. automaker now unquestionably has a better sales mix with calendar year-to-date sales of 813,000 cars, 678,000 trucks and 478,000 crossover vehicles. GM sales year-to-date are up 3.4% in an industry that recovered at four times that rate, though. The tepid or turn-around GM sales – choose your interpretation – GM are the sum of a complex three-dimensional game, which attempts to balance profits, capacity, competitive actions and momentum, with still badly needed brand rebuilding. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news, news analysis, results, sales | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ford Motor U.S. Sales Flat in September

Posted on 2 October 2012 by Ken Zino

September U.S. vehicle sales at Ford Motor were the same as last year,175,000, as the Dearborn-based automaker continues to lag market growth. A variety of factors – including inventory shortages, the result of deficient forecasting made early in the Great Recession when Ford jettisoned (too) many workers and plants, as well as necessary new model changeovers now underway are clearly hurting results.

Projections put the overall U.S. industry up more than 12% when final numbers are available late today [September came in at +13%], with Japanese makers Toyota, Nissan and Honda expected to post double-digit increases as car segments continue to boom because of $4 a squirt gasoline. Once again, this month Toyota – now fully back in production – challenged Ford for the Number Two U.S. sales position with monthly sales of 171,910 units.

The subcompact, compact and midsize car segments are expected to show retail sales growth of at least 25% percent, compared with September 2011, according to a projection by J.D. Power and Associates. Japanese automakers have strong reputations and residual values in these segments, which result in attractive pricing, buyer loyalty and increasing sales. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news, marketing, results, sales | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Porsche Sales up 16% in July. Boxster and 911 Strong

Posted on 17 August 2012 by Ken Zino

Porsche increased sales in July by 16% helped by strong sales of the Boxster and 911. The automaker sold 12,391 cars and trucks during the month. Led by sales of the Panamera sedan and Cayenne sport utility vehicle, Porsche has sold 81,562 vehicles (+14 %) in the first seven months of 2012. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news, results, sales | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ford China Sales up 32% in July to 43,000

Posted on 9 August 2012 by Ken Zino

Ford China sales in July totaled 42,560 up 32%. Most of the increase was due to the joint venture Changan Ford Mazda, which sold 26,306 Ford-brand cars, an increase of 44% from July of 2011. Sales of the old and new Focus dominated the results. Total Ford brand car sales including the imported Edge and Explorer were 27,498. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news, marketing, results, sales | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Toyota Posts Strong Results in Q1 of the Japanese Fiscal Year

Posted on 3 August 2012 by Ken Zino

Toyota Motor Corporation today said that Q1 results for the Japanese fiscal year produced a profit of ¥90.3 billion yen ($3.71 billion). Toyota posted vehicle sales for the first quarter of 2.27 million cars and trucks, an increase of 1.04 million compared to the same period last fiscal year. The largest Japanese auto company also raised its full year sales forecast some 180,000 vehicles, to 9.76 million cars this year, a better than 20% increase from 7.95 million cars in 2011. If current trends hold, Toyota will become the world’s largest automaker with more than 10 million vehicles sold blowing by a slumping General Motors when the books are closed for the 2012 calendar year. Year to date Toyota is ahead of GM by more than 300,000 units. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news, financial results, results | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

GM Q2 Profits Drop to $1.5 Billion From $2.5 Billion as Its European Losses Grow. Revenue and Cash on Hand also Decreased.

Posted on 2 August 2012 by Ken Zino

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) today said Q2 income was $1.5 billion, or $0.90 per share of common on revenue $37.6 billion. The disappointing results compared to Q2 2011 where GM’s net income attributable to common stockholders was $2.5 billion, or $1.54 per fully diluted share. GM said the decrease was due almost entirely to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar versus other major currencies. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) adjusted was $2.1 billion, compared with $3.0 billion in the second quarter of 2011.

“Despite the challenging environment, GM has now achieved 10 consecutive quarters of profitability, which is a milestone the company has not achieved in more than a decade,” said GM chairman and CEO Dan Akerson. The CEO also alluded to ongoing management changes and reorganizations, saying “we will not hesitate to act to make the business stronger” by replacing people who don’t deliver results, with no apparent awareness that U.S. taxpayers who still hold a large stake in the company could apply that dictum to him. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news, financial results, news analysis, results | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ford Motor U.S. July Sales Decline 4% in a Market that Grew 9%

Posted on 1 August 2012 by Ken Zino

Ford Motor Company’s July sales in the U.S. declined 4% as the Number Two automaker failed to keep pace with a recovering U.S. auto market. Sales executives attributed the weak performance to lower fleet sales, which were off -16% but still made up 27% of Ford’s 173,482 vehicle sales for the month. This could be viewed as progress of sorts since the fleet share declined from 31% a year earlier. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news, results, sales | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

GM July Sales in U.S. Down 6% as Market Grows 9%

Posted on 1 August 2012 by Ken Zino

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) today reported July sales in the U.S. of 201,237 vehicles, down 6% compared with a year ago in what is a recovering U.S. automarket that grew by 9%. GM sales to retail customers declined 3%.

GM’s poor performance was attributable to a large drop in sales to daily rental fleet customers, which were off – 41%. GM previously stated that it needs to wean itself from these sales as it struggles to increase its margins. As a result, so-called average transaction price at GM increased $700 compared to June and $260 year-over-year. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chrysler Group Sales Up 13% in July, Best in Five Years

Posted on 1 August 2012 by Ken Zino

Chrysler Group today reported U.S. sales of 126,089 units, a 13% increase compared with sales in July 2011 (112,026 units), and the group’s best July sales since 2007. All of the brands contributed to the positive results, the 28th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains in the slowly recovering U.S. auto business. Until final results from all makers are available late today, it is unclear whether Chrysler is still outperforming the market. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news, marketing, results, sales | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Honda Posts $1.7 Billion Profit in Japanese Fiscal Q1

Posted on 31 July 2012 by Ken Zino

Despite the strong recovery, the results did not meet analysts’ expectations because of rising marketing costs and the strong yen. Nevertheless, Honda is sticking to its global sales forecast of 4.3 million vehicles in the Japanese fiscal year to March 2013, an increase of 38.4% from FY 2012. North America is forecast to sell almost 40% of the total, which means a lot is riding on the success of the new Accord due this fall. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news, financial results, news analysis, results | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ford Motor Q2 Profit Plummets $1.4 Billion as Europe, South American and Asia Continue to Hurt Earnings and Shareholders

Posted on 27 July 2012 by Ken Zino

Ford Motor Company [NYSE: F] posted its 12th consecutive quarterly pre-tax operating profit this week based almost entirely on North American results. Weak to frankly disastrous performances in Ford’s global operations saw Q2 income drop to $1 billion, or 26 cents per share, a decrease of $1.4 billion from Q2 2011. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news, economy, financial results, news analysis, results | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

EU Passenger Car and Commercial Vehicles Sales Down Again

Posted on 17 July 2012 by Ken Zino

Thus far the European auto industry has done little to reduce its capacity, which is now widely discordant with constantly falling demand. GM is planning to close its Opel Zafira plant in Bochum, Germany after the run-out of the current Zafira in 2015, but that is not enough to return Opel to profitability after decades of losses totaling hundreds of billions dollars. Opel employs 20,800 people across Germany and more than 40,000 across Europe. The head of GM Europe was ousted earlier this month over the continuing losses and the lack of progress. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news, marketing, news, news analysis, results, sales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ford Europe Sales Plummet in June

Posted on 13 July 2012 by Ken Zino

Ford Europe sales in June dropped 16.1% to 100,400 units, with a declining market share of 7%, as the Eurozone crisis continues unabated. In a statement, Ford said that it would not match “heavy competitive discounting” by its already loss making European operations. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Used Vehicle Sales Decline in June, But Franchise Sales Grow

Posted on 11 July 2012 by Ken Zino

The U.S. auto sales industry sold 4,382,519 used vehicles in June, down 2.48% compared to a year ago. This contrasts to new vehicle sales of 1.3 million cars and light trucks, which once again begs the question if new vehicle prices are too high and driving people out of the market? About 80% of U.S. workers commute to work in a car or truck. Continue reading →

Posted in auto news, news analysis, results, sales | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment