GM sales up, Toyota and Ford are down
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GM sales up, Toyota and Ford are down
Saw this on CNN...
Seems a surprise month for the industry, GM is up and Toyota is down (Ford is way down).
An initial thought, could Toyota be leveling off? It seems this is the first time I've heard Toyota sales being down.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/04/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes
Seems a surprise month for the industry, GM is up and Toyota is down (Ford is way down).
An initial thought, could Toyota be leveling off? It seems this is the first time I've heard Toyota sales being down.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/04/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes
GM posts surprise sales gain
U.S. automaker bucks industry trend to post gain in U.S. sales in August; Ford sales plunge could drop it out of long-held No. 2 spot
By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer
September 4 2007: 2:10 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors posted a surprise sales gain in August, bucking an industry trend of weak auto sales in the period, and helping domestic brands to recapture a majority of U.S. sales.
GM said its sales of cars and light trucks, such as SUVs and pickups, rose 6 percent in the month to 385,529 vehicles. Car models saw a nearly 8 percent drop in sales, but that was outweighed by the the 16.5 percent jump in light truck models.
The GM sales results came as rival Ford (Charts, Fortune 500) reported Tuesday that its total U.S. sales fell about 14 percent to 218,332 in the month. That was a bit better than one forecast, but it dropped Ford out of its traditional place as the No. 2 U.S. automaker.
Toyota Motor (Charts) posted a rare drop in U.S. sales to 233,471, which was weaker than forecasts. But its sales were still enough to put it ahead of Ford Motor in the month. It also saw its year-to-date sales top Ford's light vehicle total, which excludes sales of heavy-duty trucks.
Toyota had been expected to overtake Ford at some point this year since Ford trimmed its capacity and closed plants in an effort to stem losses.
U.S. rival Chrysler Group is also forecast to see sales decline, while other Asian automakers such as Honda Motor (Charts) and Nissan (Charts) are forecast to post sales gains. Those other automakers are due to report August results later Tuesday.
The good results at GM and the weaker-than-expected sales at Toyota could give the traditional domestic brands slightly more than 50 percent of total U.S. sales in August, even if it's down from the 53.2 percent combined market share they had in the year-earlier period, according to another sales tracker, Autodata.
In July the domestic brands captured only 48.1 percent of sales, marking the first time that import brands captured more than half of U.S. sales in a month.
Part of the drop in sales at Ford was due to it backing away from some of its traditional sales to corporate fleet customers, particularly to rental car companies. Those sales are less profitable because they are at a lower price than retail sales. Ford said its sales to rental car companies dropped 44 percent from year-ago levels.
But sales to retail customers by Ford still dropped 13 percent, an indication that the weakness in demand for its products is not limited to a deliberate strategy of cutting back sales to the rental car market. The F-series pickup, still the nation's best selling vehicle, saw its sales off nearly 10 percent, as the favorite of builders and contractors was hit by the slump in housing and new home construction during the period.
In an increasingly global auto industry, the distinction between domestic and import brands is somewhat less useful than it once was.
Auto parts and components can be sourced around the globe and among those automakers counted as import brands are those currently owned by Ford, such as Volvo, Land Rover and Jaguar, as well as Saab, a unit of GM.
The major Asian automakers also make a significant percentage of their vehicles for the U.S. market at North American plants.
But Ford is exploring a sale of its luxury European brands, and during the month German automaker DaimlerChrysler (Charts) completed a sale of a majority stake in Chrysler to U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, separating the sales of the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands from those of European luxury brands Mercedes Benz and Maybach.
So in some ways the distinction between the traditional Big Three and their import rivals is now more relevant than it was only a few months ago, when those U.S. automakers had closer ties to import brands.
U.S. automaker bucks industry trend to post gain in U.S. sales in August; Ford sales plunge could drop it out of long-held No. 2 spot
By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer
September 4 2007: 2:10 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors posted a surprise sales gain in August, bucking an industry trend of weak auto sales in the period, and helping domestic brands to recapture a majority of U.S. sales.
GM said its sales of cars and light trucks, such as SUVs and pickups, rose 6 percent in the month to 385,529 vehicles. Car models saw a nearly 8 percent drop in sales, but that was outweighed by the the 16.5 percent jump in light truck models.
The GM sales results came as rival Ford (Charts, Fortune 500) reported Tuesday that its total U.S. sales fell about 14 percent to 218,332 in the month. That was a bit better than one forecast, but it dropped Ford out of its traditional place as the No. 2 U.S. automaker.
Toyota Motor (Charts) posted a rare drop in U.S. sales to 233,471, which was weaker than forecasts. But its sales were still enough to put it ahead of Ford Motor in the month. It also saw its year-to-date sales top Ford's light vehicle total, which excludes sales of heavy-duty trucks.
Toyota had been expected to overtake Ford at some point this year since Ford trimmed its capacity and closed plants in an effort to stem losses.
U.S. rival Chrysler Group is also forecast to see sales decline, while other Asian automakers such as Honda Motor (Charts) and Nissan (Charts) are forecast to post sales gains. Those other automakers are due to report August results later Tuesday.
The good results at GM and the weaker-than-expected sales at Toyota could give the traditional domestic brands slightly more than 50 percent of total U.S. sales in August, even if it's down from the 53.2 percent combined market share they had in the year-earlier period, according to another sales tracker, Autodata.
In July the domestic brands captured only 48.1 percent of sales, marking the first time that import brands captured more than half of U.S. sales in a month.
Part of the drop in sales at Ford was due to it backing away from some of its traditional sales to corporate fleet customers, particularly to rental car companies. Those sales are less profitable because they are at a lower price than retail sales. Ford said its sales to rental car companies dropped 44 percent from year-ago levels.
But sales to retail customers by Ford still dropped 13 percent, an indication that the weakness in demand for its products is not limited to a deliberate strategy of cutting back sales to the rental car market. The F-series pickup, still the nation's best selling vehicle, saw its sales off nearly 10 percent, as the favorite of builders and contractors was hit by the slump in housing and new home construction during the period.
In an increasingly global auto industry, the distinction between domestic and import brands is somewhat less useful than it once was.
Auto parts and components can be sourced around the globe and among those automakers counted as import brands are those currently owned by Ford, such as Volvo, Land Rover and Jaguar, as well as Saab, a unit of GM.
The major Asian automakers also make a significant percentage of their vehicles for the U.S. market at North American plants.
But Ford is exploring a sale of its luxury European brands, and during the month German automaker DaimlerChrysler (Charts) completed a sale of a majority stake in Chrysler to U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, separating the sales of the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands from those of European luxury brands Mercedes Benz and Maybach.
So in some ways the distinction between the traditional Big Three and their import rivals is now more relevant than it was only a few months ago, when those U.S. automakers had closer ties to import brands.
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Joined: Mar 2007
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From: Greenville, SC
Toyota sales were down last month as well.
As a side note, GM truck sales were up almost 17%
AND, while the tundra had a 69% sales increase over 2006 (which is to be expected), sales are down 4,250 trucks compared to last month. 23,150 for July and 18,919 for August. Take away (or lower) the incentives, and they sit on the lots
Last edited by Silverado C-10; Sep 4, 2007 at 02:20 PM.
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Posts: 13,713
From: The Golden State
Cars:
* Buick cars sales, down 22%
* Cadillac down 9.5% (-18.9% for the year)
* Chevy off 4.3%
* Pontiac down 4.4% (Grand Prix UP 11.2%!)
* Saturn off 14.8% (up 8.2% for the year)
Trucks:
* Cadillac Escalade up 39.9% (SRX up 7.6%)
* Chevy Suburban up 27%.
* Colorado down 27%
* Equinox up 13.5%
* Chevrolet full size pickups up 31.8% (GMC's 34%)
* Chevy HHR up...49.5%
* Avalanche, down... 44.6%
* Hummer down 15.4% (H2 up 2%)
Seems GM's success this month is focused on crossovers and SUVs. Large pickups are doing well compared to last year at both Chevy and GMC. Colorado seems to be in an increasing freefall. GM's new crossovers doing very well.
GM's cars are either flat or fell for the month.
* Buick cars sales, down 22%
* Cadillac down 9.5% (-18.9% for the year)
* Chevy off 4.3%
* Pontiac down 4.4% (Grand Prix UP 11.2%!)
* Saturn off 14.8% (up 8.2% for the year)
Trucks:
* Cadillac Escalade up 39.9% (SRX up 7.6%)
* Chevy Suburban up 27%.
* Colorado down 27%
* Equinox up 13.5%
* Chevrolet full size pickups up 31.8% (GMC's 34%)
* Chevy HHR up...49.5%
* Avalanche, down... 44.6%
* Hummer down 15.4% (H2 up 2%)
Seems GM's success this month is focused on crossovers and SUVs. Large pickups are doing well compared to last year at both Chevy and GMC. Colorado seems to be in an increasing freefall. GM's new crossovers doing very well.
GM's cars are either flat or fell for the month.
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Posts: 1,897
From: Greenville, SC
The colorado will continue to go into free fall until it's redesigned. It compares poorly to the other trucks in the midsize segement and is a couple years older than (except for the ranger, but that's really a "small" truck still) all the other midsizes and is still NOT due for a refresh until 09 or '10. Can't remember which. GM needs to get on the ball or loose the midsize market all together. A 5.3 in a Colorado MAY help stabilize sales until a refresh, but who knows if that will ever happen?
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From: Oshawa - Home of the 5th-gen
(or is this sales increase too short a measure to base the decision on?? 
)
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Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 10,285
From: Albany, NY
The colorado will continue to go into free fall until it's redesigned. It compares poorly to the other trucks in the midsize segement and is a couple years older than (except for the ranger, but that's really a "small" truck still) all the other midsizes and is still NOT due for a refresh until 09 or '10. Can't remember which. GM needs to get on the ball or loose the midsize market all together. A 5.3 in a Colorado MAY help stabilize sales until a refresh, but who knows if that will ever happen?
I also wonder about the Avalanche in the coming decade. If gas prices climb a lot in the next decade and trucks sales drop I could see the Avalanche being dropped. Then again since it is just an open roof suburban they might not need to sell more than 20,000-40,000 to be profitable.
Last edited by Z28x; Sep 4, 2007 at 03:24 PM.
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Thread Starter
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From: Omaha, NE
I'd like to see car sales up at GM, since that is probably a better indicator of health these days than truck sales.
I see a lot of old S-10s around here still in service for misc businesses, but I don't see many Colorados. Apparently GM missed the mark on that one, because people would rather keep up their old S-10 than go to the new truck.
I'm not surprised about the HHR, you see those everywhere and finding a used one isn't too easy either.
I see a lot of old S-10s around here still in service for misc businesses, but I don't see many Colorados. Apparently GM missed the mark on that one, because people would rather keep up their old S-10 than go to the new truck.
I'm not surprised about the HHR, you see those everywhere and finding a used one isn't too easy either.
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Posts: 2,887
From: northeast Miss.
Honda is up 4.7%
Chrysler down 6%
Nissan up 6.3%
Chrysler down 6%
- Chrysler brand car sales rise 25 percent year-over-year led by Sebring
Sedan and Convertible
- Jeep(R) brand sales down 1 percent versus August 2006 while Wrangler and
Compass sales increase 58 and 76 percent respectively
- Dodge brand car sales up 13 percent from the same period last year
- Dealer inventory down 11 percent from August 2006, approximately 57,000
units
Sedan and Convertible
- Jeep(R) brand sales down 1 percent versus August 2006 while Wrangler and
Compass sales increase 58 and 76 percent respectively
- Dodge brand car sales up 13 percent from the same period last year
- Dealer inventory down 11 percent from August 2006, approximately 57,000
units
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,479
Those numbers put a smile on my face.
I can only speak from observation. 3 of the guys in our company leased previous gen Avalanches because the payments were low ... mostly it seems, because of artificially high residuals. They've all been replaced in the last year or so, with a Ridgerunt, Sierra Denali Quad Cab and Extended cab Silverado LTZ. For the life of me, other than price, I can't see why anyone would choose and Avalanche over a Suburban. 
I also wonder about the Avalanche in the coming decade. If gas prices climb a lot in the next decade and trucks sales drop I could see the Avalanche being dropped. Then again since it is just an open roof suburban they might not need to sell more than 20,000-40,000 to be profitable.
