The three Japanese majors saw September sales slides that were generally closer to Ford’s mild Clunker hangover than GM and Chrysler’s cliff dive belly-flop. Honda‘s 20 percent overall decline was the worst of the bunch, and was led by a 30 percent drop in Acura sales. In contrast, Toyota-brand vehicles fell 19.1 percent while Lexus actually recorded a 7.3 percent increase. Nissan-brand sales declined a mere 5.8 percent, while Infiniti fell 15 percent.
Honda saw declines for every nameplate except Pilot (+.5 percent) and the new-model Insight which sold 1,746 units. Accord dropped 10.6 percent, Civic fell 28.4 percent while Fit flopped by a staggering 51 percent, probably on low post-Clunker availability. The previously unstoppable CRV shed 12.3 percent, its first decline in many months. Ridgeline (-42.2 percent), Odyssey (-48.9 percent), and Element (-54.1 percent) all dropped with the the alacrity of a Chrysler nameplate. On the Acura front, TSX was the only glimmer of hope, slipping by a mere 5.8 percent. TL fell 35.4 percent, RL slumped 44.4 percent, RDX was off 20.5 while MDX tanked by 41.9 percent.
Toyota saw a similar Clunker crash in its car sales, especially the Yaris which tanked by 68 percent. Corolla saw a mild decline, down 6.6 percent, while Camry fell 16.2 percent. Avalon dropped by 45.3 percent, while the new Venza logged a disappointing 4,738. Even Toyota’s rock-solid Prius and Rav-4 were off by 3 percent. Land Cruiser increased by 20 percent, but volume was a mere 233 units. Highlander fell only 12.6 percent, but Sienna fell 36 percent, and Sequoia was down 45.6 percent. FJ Cruiser and 4Runner were down 74.8 percent and 78.4 percent respectively. Tundra and Tacoma each fell by about 21 points.
Toyota’s Scion division continued to be a huge disappointment, with no nameplate falling less than 50 percent. The less said there, the better. Lexus saw a 5.5 percent increase from IS sales and a staggering 70 percent bump in RX sales. ES was down 27.7 percent, LS fell below four-digit-sales with a 39.7 percent decline, and GS was down 50.8 percent. LX and GX SUVs were off by 54.4 percent and 65.8 percent respectively.
Compared to its Japanese competitors, Nissan’s car sales were quite steady. Versa lost 23.9 percent but Sentra was down only 5.8 percent and Cube added 2,230 units. Maxima increased 18.1 percent, while Altima slid 24.3 percent and 350/370Z (combined for some reason) were up 53 percent. Frontier saw a staggering 41 percent sales increase, although this was offset by a 33.8 percent decline in Titan sales. Pathfinder increased 37.3 percent, Quest rose 36.1 percent, Xterra was up 8.7 percent and Rogue edged up .7 percent. Murano fell 12.9 percent and Armada was off 13.1 percent.
At Infiniti, a 14.3 percent increase in G-series coupes was accompanied by a 5.8 increase in G-series sedan sales and an inconsequential doubling of QX56 sales to 677 units. On the downside, M-series fell 58.5 percent, EX dropped 56 percent and FX was off 31.3 percent.
The minor slides endured by the Japanese majors proves two points with crystal clarity: first, that Cash For Clunkers pulled sales forward and caused a minor depression in its wake, and second that GM and Chrysler are in a special hell of their own making. Honda’s decline was the worst, but it also disproportionally benefited from C4C. Toyota and Nissan saw smaller increases during C4C and endured smaller declines on the backend. These firms have shown that though the market may swing up and down, their market shares are relatively safe. The same can not be said of GM and Chrysler.
Honda needs to figure out fast what the hell they want to do with Acura besides making it Honda, except ugly and more expensive.
Toyota’s Scion division continued to be a huge disappointment, with no nameplate falling less than 50 percent.
Toyota could do so much with Scion. In a depressed economy where people are looking for reliable, versatile and efficient Toyota could make a killing selling rebadged Daihatsus at sub-Yaris/Corolla prices.
Of course, they’d kill the more profitable Yaris, Corolla/Matrix and RAV sales, which is why this isn’t happening. Pity.
heel and toe
and heel and toe
and slide, slide, slide
@psarhjinian
They could have just kept producing the original xB.
As a newcomer to looking at the US car market I have to agree with ‘BDB’. Acura offer nothing very different to Honda other than price.
Wow, surprise to see Nissan’s SUVs and vans picking up so much. They didn’t see much of a revision in the past year.
You forgot to mention the GT-R they sold 111 units. That niche is full, that event is over!
Our local Honda dealers had almost no inventory of the ground going into September. It will be interesting to see how things shake out in October now that the inventory pipeline is getting refilled.
They could have just kept producing the original xB.
They updated it in Japan, but the changed the model that they rebadge for this version. And the xB is far from the niftiest JDM kei-car in Toyota/Daihatsu’s stable.
I have to agree with John Horner. Our local Honda dealerships had nothing to sell in September. The lot was empty with the exception of a few Acura models and a handful of the expensive Hondas.
“Toyota’s Scion division continued to be a huge disappointment, with no nameplate falling less than 50 percent.”
Ouch. Something needs to be done there. I mean, something. Anything. Hey Scion, want to hire me? I’ll do some restructuring. Seriously. Pay me some salary and I’ll create a youth brand. Or at least a hip brand .. of… some sort.
Or even Acura … gosh… even I will help you change your look. If you want.
BDB +1: The NA-only Acura nameplate experiment is over. Make them Hondas, lose the ugly nose and move on.
The NA-only Acura nameplate experiment is over. Make them Hondas, lose the ugly nose and move on.
Or make them truly competitive with Lexus, Infiniti, and (yes, I’m not kidding) Caddy.
Hell, make them competitive with Lincoln for God’s sake. Even their lineup looks better than Acura’s.
untold story: BMW was UP, and all BMW, Daimler, and VW increased their market share.
When I first looked at a Honda Fit last spring, autotrader showed over 500 within 25 miles of my ZIP Code, now it’s barely 80. So, yeah, inventory is a problem. Another problem is that the Honda marketing folks decided to prohibit matching a manual transmission with VSA on the Fit (and Civic, and . . . ). Deal breaker for me.
Infiniti G-series up and M down is simply a case of new model/refresh for the G (now G37, pretty much the same body but a bigger engine) and a “everybody holding off for the new design next year” for the M. Of course, falling tides sink all boats, too.
Scooby Dooby Doo!
Up again!
I so love being right!
I was car shopping this month, including Honda Civic (stock was present). They were just too darned expensive, no price aggression at the dealerships (like, all of them).
johnthacker :
October 1st, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Infiniti G-series up and M down is simply a case of new model/refresh for the G (now G37, pretty much the same body but a bigger engine) and a “everybody holding off for the new design next year” for the M. Of course, falling tides sink all boats, too.
I think the word’s out on the G – it’s every bit a match for the 3-series, for a LOT less money. BMW needs to watch its ass.
You can not blame the Honda shortfall on lack of inventory. Almost every car lot from Ford to GM had very little inventory left becasue of the Clunker deal. What is most likely happening is a real shift in attitudes among American consumers. Consumers who now see that Ford and GM offer good midsize ( Fusion and Malibu) alternatives to Honda and Toyota. As Ford sales go up as well as some GM models other car companies will have to take a hit. The truth is that Honda and Toyota no longer corner the market on well made vehicles. Honda and Toyota are both going to be in much more trouble going forward unless they get their quality control problems taken care of, and offer better vehicles for the money. Right now Ford and some GM products simply offer better value than many of the Honda and GM products. Just go to Edmunds.com and read about the dissatisfaction with the Accord and Camry compared to the Fusion, Taurus or Malibu.
C4C was an idealistic experiment to see if people would trade their American gas hogs for American economy cars, preferably a GM car since GM claims to have all these models that get 30 mpg or better.
Well, that is with an asterisk it seems the EPA combined rule lowered those numbers a bit. But in the end it isn’t just mileage but the overall package. Resale, reputation, warranty, perception of viability. A lot goes into a car buying decision.
Someone needs to point out the obvious and that is there is no guaranteed right to sell your product. If mighty Honda is seeing red then we know it’s not just a name plate that matters. Those Acuras are dog ugly and expensive too. Compared to just about anything they are hideous. Acuras were once recognizable as high end Honda cars with a dash more style.
I think Toyota just ran out of Yarises. Are they doing a model changeover or something? Cars.com reports only 28 in a 50-mile radius. There’s twice that many “white hot” Camaros available and three times as many Priora. I get my oil changes at the Toyota dealership ($5 more than Instee-Loob with much better service, so why not?) and the last time I was there, the showroom was, literally, empty. I asked and they had no Yarises to test-drive that day, “We sold out.”
KixStart :
October 1st, 2009 at 9:45 pm
I think Toyota just ran out of Yarises.
God is good. :)
Honda had a Fit… but they sold it.
I agree with Mr. Holzman. The only good thing about the “new” (Corolla-based) xB is that the handles open locked doors, where in the original (Echo-based) xB you had to unlock them first using the maximum-inconvenience knobs. In every other respect the original xB was superior.
But I’d like to ask what’s up with FJ? It seems like a very decent jeep. Maybe it’s too large?
Lack of inventory is not an act of God.
A management decision said, cut production because our inventory is bloated.
They are unhappy because their inventory is too high, and they are unhappy because their inventory is too low.
Inventory levels are a management decision, so blaming that for a sales shortfall is like blaming themselves.
Dropping sales are a market decision, caused, in no small part, by bloated prices. Hyundai and Kia are doing fine, because they are priced closer to market.
The other makes refuse to understand that lesson. That, too, is a management decision.
“BDB :
October 1st, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Honda needs to figure out fast what the hell they want to do with Acura besides making it Honda, except ugly and more expensive.”
Acura has lost its way. Unless it comes up with a major investment in new far better designs, it should be closed down. Either way, it will cost Honda billions.
Prediction:
GM and Chrysler will be all but out of business within the next 5 years, Hyundai will ovetake Toyota and Ford will be doing ok as the last American brand.
+1 autosavant re: Acura
Honda really needs to do a total revamp. They should start with eliminating the bizarro Japanese cartoon styling. If your styling has to be bad to be “distinctive,” then maybe you should give up on “distinctive.” Some of the newer cars, you couldn’t give to me, just based on their appearance alone. Then they might reconsider the practice of aping the Germans’ model nomenclature. For the life of me, I can’t keep the RL and the TL and whatever else they make straight in my mind. Two years ago, I admit, I did shop the MDX. But it appeared to me as a bloated Honda Pilot, with less utility (because it wasn’t as boxy) not much more comfort and much more money. So, we bought a top of the line Pilot and we’re happy. Sure, the MDX has more ponies than the Pilot and the trick AWD system makes it more nimble than the Pilot. But when I want to drive a sportscar, there’s a Z3 sitting in my driveway. I’m not interested in some truck’s attempt to imitate it. A truck is for hauling stuff; and the Pilot does that well . . . better than the MDX.
Honda sales held up better last year than Toyota (not to mention GM). That’s why they see more of a drop this year.
Honda is the only major automaker that’s still profitable. (My statement didn’t include Hyundai, because I have no data.)
Bruce from DC :
It pains me because I am a Honda fan and owner of two Hondas, a 1990 Accord coupe 5-speed I gave to charity last year, and a Civic hatch 1991 with low limes I still keep in the summer home, but you are quite right on every point you make.
It is estimated that when Honda dropped the “Legend” brand, it lost $1,000,000,000 in name recognition-value.
Lincoln took it even further with the meaningless alphanumerics, and new Lincolns are Butt-ugly Ford Edsels, obese too, cartoon-like grilles, and prices of a V8 but have a V6 instead. Very appealing.. NOT!
Recent Acura poor exterior designs would appeal to only two types of people, namely
1. Their mothers (ie the Designers themselves) and
2. Nutty Trekkies with Spock ears.
Japanese majors fall off a cliff? What about Government Motors?????
@ Autosavant: “It is estimated that when Honda dropped the “Legend” brand, it lost $1,000,000,000 in name recognition-value.”
It wasn’t just the brand recognition. When the Legend nameplate was dropped (in favor of the RL nonclementure), the car itself was transformed from an athletic, somewhat competitive 2- and 4-door near-luxury performance sedan (available with 5 and 6 speed manuals!) to something of a LS400/S-Class expy with a lackluster engine, bereft of any sporting potential. The Vigor was dropped in favor of a softened-up TL.
Ever since then, Acura’s been climbing that greased-up slope of near-luxury, not sure of how to pull people in when you’re literally sitting on the fence between luxury and performance. I bet a lot of people who wanted a Legend but found the RL instead bought themselves a nice Audi or BMW. Now Acuras have become visually repulsive as well as only semi-appealing performance-wise. Honda really doesn’t know what to do with this brand or how to take it any further. I don’t expect them to hang it up, but something has to give or someone had better come up with a good idea. Getting rid of the cartoonish grilles will be a good step in the right direction.
The Infiniti G series is literally the spiritual successor of the Legend. Nissan probably won’t fall into the same trap, since they pretty much started off with alphanumerics in the first place.
“Lincoln took it even further with the meaningless alphanumerics, and new Lincolns are Butt-ugly Ford Edsels, obese too, cartoon-like grilles, and prices of a V8 but have a V6 instead. Very appealing.. NOT!”
Lincoln is just as confused. They want to be an American Acura, but the products are pretty much Mercury-grade, just a step above the nicest Ford. This might be why Mercury’s being shoved out of the picture. It’s good for volume, but bad if you have two brands with roughly the same luxury qualities and cachet coexisting with one another. If Mercury goes, Lincoln won’t have a chance of clawing its way back to the full luxury ranks.