July 2010 Auto Sales Thread (Canada added)
08-09-10, 03:19 PM
#46
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Thanks for the numbers guys!
BMW 19,064 +16.4%
Lexus 18,595 -0.4%
MB 17,367 +7.0%
Pretty close, a surge likely due 5-series. Lexus is flat, but still in the hunt, and actually widened its margin vs. MB by over a 1,000 units. LS topped the flagship segment for first time since January. Of course, based on recent data, the lease rate for Lexus is something like 30% whereas for its rivals is twice that.
BMW 19,064 +16.4%
Lexus 18,595 -0.4%
MB 17,367 +7.0%
Pretty close, a surge likely due 5-series. Lexus is flat, but still in the hunt, and actually widened its margin vs. MB by over a 1,000 units. LS topped the flagship segment for first time since January. Of course, based on recent data, the lease rate for Lexus is something like 30% whereas for its rivals is twice that.
Overall from January to July Lexus still leads but not by much.
Lexus 126,025
Mercedes 125,015 which includes the Sprinter van
BMW 119,696 which excludes MINI
Lexus is doing a great job and it still amazes me that the ES still outsells the IS. We still have five months left so we'll see what happens. Still have the rest of the summer sales event and of course the December to remember sales event...
08-09-10, 03:28 PM
#47
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Keep in mind, the top selling vehicle in the country is the Ford F-series. Think of all the utility companies and municipal agencies that need work trucks.
If you read Ford's monthly sales press release, almost all have stated an increase in retail share. That's a pretty good sign Ford has been heading in the right direction.
Chrysler is clearly in the worst shape. Their product line-up and lack of products in the pipeline isn't appealing to the masses. Their only option is fleet dumping until more and better products arrive.
08-09-10, 04:47 PM
#48
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The fleet “crutch” is both a blessing and a curse: Ford, General Motors and Chrysler have seen continually strong sales in 2010, but new data suggests that both Michigan automakers have increased their overall volume thanks to less profitable fleet sales.
Fleet sales represent guaranteed sales for the automakers, but they are generally composed of cut-rate sales prices.
Automotive News says that it has discovered that this year GM has seen fleet sales increase 53% (to 400,000 units) and Chrysler’s fleet numbers are up a massive 163% (to 242,000 units) and even Ford’s numbers are up 35% (to 287,000). Essentially, that means that both automakers have seen fleet sales increase to about the same level as they were before last year’s industry crisis.
Ford says that it is focusing its fleet sales on more profitable government and commercial buyers. More than 66% of all GM and Chrysler fleet sales, meanwhile, were to bottom-feeding, low profit rental car outlets.
That increased volume might not sound like a bad thing until the numbers are compared to those at foreign automakers. Chrysler leads major industry players with 39% of its overall sales going to fleets. Ford has dropped its fleet dependency, but it’s still high at 35% . GM is a little lower at 31%. By comparison, Hyundai leads foreign automakers at just 16%. Nissan (15%), Toyota (9%) and Honda (2%) have never been major fleet sellers.
Automakers say that their regular fleet customers – rental agencies, contractors and corporate fleet operators – are finally buying more vehicles after putting off purchases last year.
Fleet sales are completed at discounted volume prices and they typically diminish resale values.
If those fleet sales percentages are accurate, then July consumer sales probably look something like this:
1. Toyota: 153,994
2. GM: 137,609
3. Honda: 110,188
4. Ford: 107,959
5. Nissan: 69,986
6. Chrysler: 56,921
Definitely changes your perspective on what's really going in the minds of car buyers these days. Numbers don't lie.
08-09-10, 10:14 PM
#50
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He's looking at the small picture as oppose to the big picture. Toyota is the largest auto manufacturer in the whole entire world so even if Toyota had a small percentage of fleet sales of course it's gonna be a large number because Toyota out sells every auto manufacturer.
American car companies produced junk for a long time and that's why two of them filed for bankruptcy and they're still having a hard time.
American car companies produced junk for a long time and that's why two of them filed for bankruptcy and they're still having a hard time.
Last edited by Trexus; 08-09-10 at 10:18 PM.
08-09-10, 10:22 PM
#51
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He's looking at the small picture as oppose to the big picture. Toyota is the largest auto manufacturer in the whole entire world so even if Toyota had a small percentage of fleet sales of course it's gonna be a large number because Toyota out sells every auto manufacturer.
Lets see here lets make it simple;
Brand A sells 10 vehicles and 30% are fleet. That is 3 cars.
Brand B sells 4 vehicles are 50% are fleet. That is 2 cars.
Biased person says "oh wait, Brand A has 3 cars in fleet that is more than 2 cars" completely omitting the fact Brand A simply sells more cars in volume so they will have more cars in fleet even if less of a percentage of cars are fleet cars.
08-11-10, 05:35 AM
#53
Luxury Sales
For any brand, automotive or non-automotive, greater diversity across its product portfolio reduces risk since dependence on any one product is limited. Given the generally high quality of today's new vehicles, there is not as much risk as there used to be of 1 product being virtually crippled by a major quality problem, recall or bad publicity.
The 7 leading premium marques have varying degrees of product diversification. Mercedes-Benz appears to have the most diverse set of vehicles, as no Mercedes-Benz model accounts for more than 29% of the brand's total U.S. retail new vehicle registrations (May 2010 CYTD). And each of 4 Mercedes-Benz models has more than 10% of the make's registrations, something only 1 other brand (Acura) can claim.
Other premium brands with moderate diversification include Acura, Audi (which is less reliant on the A4/S4 than it used to be), Cadillac and Lexus. Both BMW and Infiniti are heavily reliant on 1 product, with the 3-Series accounting for almost half of all BMW sales and the Infiniti G claiming almost 6 of every 10 Infiniti deliveries.
It is also noteworthy that the 3 leading large premium sedans (7-Series, LS and S Class) each account for exactly 6% of their respective brand's portfolios, suggesting the direct competition among them and their ongoing positioning against 1 another. Lastly, for 6 of the 7 leading luxury market brands, the model with the highest proportion of registrations is a small car or crossover, which 1 would predict given these models' low prices. However, this is not the case at Mercedes-Benz, where the E-Class out-sells the smaller and less expensive C Class, which underscores the long history – and substantial owner base - of the midsize E in this country.
08-11-10, 05:55 AM
#54
Hybrid Sales
There are over 25 different hybrid (gas/electric) cars and trucks sold in the U.S right now (and more if you count some of the discontinued models you can still buy off of a dealer's lot). With so much talk about the forthcoming "onslaught" of electric vehicles, many have wondered what happened to the good 'ol hybrid vehicle segment. It's hanging on and actually doing better than last year.
Fact #1: For the first 5 months of this year, we saw over 106,000 new hybrid units enter the U.S. roadways. Our friends at HybridCars.com show just over 109,000 units for the same time period. Short story: the segment is up over 5% on a year-over-year basis based on new registrations.
Fact #2: California is still THE hybrid state. Better than 1 in 5 hybrids are registered in this state. A few years ago, California represented over 25% of the hybrid segment. Now they represent just over 20%. From a dealer network view or someone pulling together a regional automotive forecast on hybrids, you'd be a fool to ignore California. Buyers there are incented to "think green." Although 1 thing that really shocked me about their current legislation is that hybrids are disqualified from using high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes...yikes!
Fact #3: Prius is still king. Over half of all hybrids sold new are the Prius. Last year they accounted for 44% in the 1st 5 months; for the same time this year, they account for 1 of every 2 sold new. Good luck to the rest who merely want market share in this segment.
Prediction: Looking at the results for May and June of this year, our light vehicle forecast for the hybrid segment is between 254,000 to 260,000 new sales in the U.S. This would put us back at the levels we saw in 2006 (we saw 254,000 that year) and definitely below last year's 2009 total of around 290,000 units.
Go green! And if you're in California, enjoy your single occupant HOV lane privileges while they last.
08-11-10, 08:02 AM
#55
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For any brand, automotive or non-automotive, greater diversity across its product portfolio reduces risk since dependence on any one product is limited. Given the generally high quality of today's new vehicles, there is not as much risk as there used to be of 1 product being virtually crippled by a major quality problem, recall or bad publicity.
The 7 leading premium marques have varying degrees of product diversification. Mercedes-Benz appears to have the most diverse set of vehicles, as no Mercedes-Benz model accounts for more than 29% of the brand's total U.S. retail new vehicle registrations (May 2010 CYTD). And each of 4 Mercedes-Benz models has more than 10% of the make's registrations, something only 1 other brand (Acura) can claim.
Other premium brands with moderate diversification include Acura, Audi (which is less reliant on the A4/S4 than it used to be), Cadillac and Lexus. Both BMW and Infiniti are heavily reliant on 1 product, with the 3-Series accounting for almost half of all BMW sales and the Infiniti G claiming almost 6 of every 10 Infiniti deliveries.
It is also noteworthy that the 3 leading large premium sedans (7-Series, LS and S Class) each account for exactly 6% of their respective brand's portfolios, suggesting the direct competition among them and their ongoing positioning against 1 another. Lastly, for 6 of the 7 leading luxury market brands, the model with the highest proportion of registrations is a small car or crossover, which 1 would predict given these models' low prices. However, this is not the case at Mercedes-Benz, where the E-Class out-sells the smaller and less expensive C Class, which underscores the long history – and substantial owner base - of the midsize E in this country.
Very nice find. So as I've said before Infiniti should simply be re-named "the G-series and its not a G-wagon on Pontiac G's"
That data would be useful every month and for the year. Last month was just one month.
Not surprised about hybrids as gas prices are relatively low.
08-11-10, 02:51 PM
#56
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Well, well, well ... those fleet sale statistics certainly explain A LOT.
First off, real consumers aren't actually buying more Chrysler models. Chrysler is relying very heavily on fleet sales.
Secondly, the retail sales increase for Ford and GM has actually been modest, with both having significant fleet sales.
Thirdly, fleet sales for Hyundai are ALMOST DOUBLE that of Toyota. That explains the inexplicable huge increase for the Elantra. This also puts into question how many Genesis sedan and Sonata sales are retail, and how many are fleet sales. For months I suspected Hyundai was pushing quite a bit of volume to fleets, and both the media and Hyundai itself were over-hyping and exaggerating the retail sales increase for Hyundai and Kia.
First off, real consumers aren't actually buying more Chrysler models. Chrysler is relying very heavily on fleet sales.
Secondly, the retail sales increase for Ford and GM has actually been modest, with both having significant fleet sales.
Thirdly, fleet sales for Hyundai are ALMOST DOUBLE that of Toyota. That explains the inexplicable huge increase for the Elantra. This also puts into question how many Genesis sedan and Sonata sales are retail, and how many are fleet sales. For months I suspected Hyundai was pushing quite a bit of volume to fleets, and both the media and Hyundai itself were over-hyping and exaggerating the retail sales increase for Hyundai and Kia.
08-12-10, 11:18 AM
#57
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This is from Ford's Press Release: "In July, Ford retail sales were up 5 percent versus a year ago, and Ford appears to have gained retail market share for the 21st time in the last 22 months. Fleet sales were up 2 percent, reflecting higher sales of Ford’s hard-working trucks to commercial customers."
Ford has gained retail marketshare in 21 of the past 22 months. Even if it was modest, each and every month, that's still significant progress for Ford.
The Big 3 are always going to have a disproportionate share of fleet sales here in the US. I would expect Toyota and Honda would have a disproportionate amount of fleet sales in Japan and Hyundai and Kia the same in South Korea.
To me the more important issue is who is dumping into rental fleets? I see a big spike in Malibu and Sonata sales numbers. One is a new model and certainly explains part of the big jump, the other, well, smells of rental fleet dumping.
08-12-10, 11:24 AM
#58
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I am almost positive that Hyundai dumped some Elantras into rental fleets in July. That's the only thing to me that explains that huge inexplicable sales jump for the Elantra.
08-12-10, 12:36 PM
#59
Toyota and Lexus combine to capture 73.9% of hybrid sales in July
To add to post #54
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/12/t...-sales-in-jul/
Toyota and Lexus combine to capture 73.9% of hybrid sales in July
Last week, we informed you that sales of the Toyota Prius had sharply dropped off this July, falling some 30 percent from the reported numbers a year ago, yet Toyota was pleased with the results. While it seemed rather odd that Toyota was satisfied with a drop in sales, the fact that the Cash for Clunkers program kicked off in July of 2009 helped to make some sense of the decline.
Though sales of the Prius may have fallen, the company is surely pleased with its continued dominance in the hybrid market. Toyota and Lexus have combined to capture 73.9 percent of U.S. hybrid sales for July, and surely that's something to be pleased about. The seven hybrid models from Toyota and Lexus accounted for 17,504 sales in July, with the Prius capturing a rather astounding 59.6 percent of the hybrid market for the month.
Ford placed a far distant second to Toyota by reporting just 2,896 hybrid sales in July, while Honda remained planted in third with a total tally of 2,475 hybrid sales. So, while Prius sales may have dropped off compared to last year, there's no denying that Toyota still retains its position atop the hybrid market.
Though sales of the Prius may have fallen, the company is surely pleased with its continued dominance in the hybrid market. Toyota and Lexus have combined to capture 73.9 percent of U.S. hybrid sales for July, and surely that's something to be pleased about. The seven hybrid models from Toyota and Lexus accounted for 17,504 sales in July, with the Prius capturing a rather astounding 59.6 percent of the hybrid market for the month.
Ford placed a far distant second to Toyota by reporting just 2,896 hybrid sales in July, while Honda remained planted in third with a total tally of 2,475 hybrid sales. So, while Prius sales may have dropped off compared to last year, there's no denying that Toyota still retains its position atop the hybrid market.
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