VW posted a 7% increase in October over the same month a year ago. The Rabbit’s fade-out led the negative column, with a 44% decline. The Jetta posted a solid 25% increase. The Passat, down 41%, is giving way to the CC, which is way up at +256%. The CC now outsells the Passat almost 3 to 1. Since the Passat is going away soon in favor of VW’s new USA mid-sedan, and the CC is going to stay, this trend is probably being engineered through incentives (and the lack thereof).
Audi was down 1% overall. 5 is the magic number for Audi: the A5 was up 28%, and the Q5 is already the second best seller in the lineup. Mid-sized crossovers to the rescue! The more larger/more expensive models, such as A8, R8 and Q7, are taking the biggest hits.
BMW Group was the big loser among the Germans, down 19%. Both the BMW brand (-19%) and Mini (-20%) took the hit equally. The 1 series is sinking, with sales down 57%. The new 7 posted a 10% increase. BMW light trucks (that’s a hard couple of words to type) were down disproportionately, especially the X3, down 86%. The lovely X6 managed a 39% increase.
Daimler overall was up 9%, but that was the result of the Smart’s maxi sized decline of 70%. Ouch! Mercedes was up smartly, with +21%, led by the new E-Class, +190%.
Porsche’s 15% increase in October helped reduce their year-to-date totals to -29%.
[NOTE: Picture above is not the original one posted with the story. If the comments confuse you, this is why.]
“Mercedes was up smartly, with a plus 21%, led by the new E-Class, up 190%.”
Redesigns clearly matter!
I blame BMW’s decline mostly on Chris Bangle. There isn’t a single BMW that wasn’t far more handsome in the 90’s compared to now. They went from having the nicest looking model lineup to the one of the ugliest in 10 years. They need to radically redesign their entire lineup asap or Audi and MB will eat their lunch. Imagine if they came up with a modern take on the classic E30 3 series look.
Somebody is actually buying the X6?
39% up from what base?
VW is up, don’t get it.
Not a bad showing for Audi. The A4, A5, and Q5 are new and should be selling well, but the TT is getting well into middle age, and the A6 and A8 are both due for replacement. The Q7 has no real reason for being. It’s the only Audi that’s ugly, and it just isn’t necessary for the brand. The Q5 and Q3 make more sense.
That pic is worth a thousand YukoTahoe sales to GM.
As long as gas prices stay down, people will opt for bigger, supposedly safer cars in the US…I’m not sayin’ that’s necessarily a good thing….but pictures like [the one that was here before the one above] drive a visceral reaction among adults who put their loved ones in cars every day.
I ain’t putting my wife and grandkids in a deathtrap. Period. That’s why she drives a medium-large SUV. And she has had lessons in how to drive it, by the way….She will always drive the largest, safest car we can afford.
If that makes me a luddite, or a CO2 spewing neanderthal, so be it. Better one of those with a LIVE family, than a tree-hugging greeny with dead kin in a small hatchback.
So, sue me.
When someone proves to me that the safety, driver training and rest logs, and maintenance records of the American trucking industry are NOT rife with fraud and indicate a quantum improvement in trucking safety, I will give up my SUV keys. Til then, SUV haters be damned.
C’mon, TTAC. I know an occasional auto wreck photo can provide a striking visual aid, but at least stick to photos where no one was hurt or killed. Using these kinds of photos for a flippant metaphor feels callous and disrespectful to those who suffered or died.
Exception might be if this article were driving home a point on auto safety. But it’s not, it’ just a routine state-of-the-industry report.
Tasteless.
I’d love to know JLR’s numbers because I have a suspicion they are up, with Land Rover and Jag’s new XJ leading a sales charge.
If you get hit by a tractor-trailer it doesn’t much matter whether your vehicle weighs 3000 lb or 5000 lb.
What matters is good active safety (not a truck strength), effective crumple zones and survival cell (some trucks have those, some don’t) and things such as likelihood of rollover.
Not an automatic win for a truck. All you have on your side is mass, and when the other guy weighs 10x as much as you do, that doesn’t count for a whole lot.
When I bought my Passat they were giving them away–0% for the duration of the loan. Same deal on the CC, I think. However, the dealer had no 2.0 CCs in stock. As near as I can tell the CC and Passat are pretty much the same car, the former certainly being more flashy.
Davekaybsc wrote (of the Q7):
It’s the only Audi that’s ugly, and it just isn’t necessary for the brand.
No argument on the aesthetic verdict. And frankly, if I had my way, none of the luxury Euros (save LR) would be building SUVs. But principles aside, prior to the Q5, Audi was selling lots of Q7s … each one representing the margin of several A4s. With the recent freshening and the new diesel engine, it appears as if they’re committed to amortizing their investment for a while longer :-(
…and now smart realizes what happens when an entire brand is built around one specific idea and types of cars. See Hummer for another example.
(and I actually like the smartcar! That decline is just awful!)
I have to think that smart looks at Mini and sees the ongoing success of that brand. Of course a Mini is more of a “real” car and they keep the models fresh with JCW packages, the ragtop, and the Clubman. smart hasn’t done that yet. Also, at one time, the smart was a Mini-like car when it came to the pick-and-choose personal touches but here that really doesn’t exist yet.
I think the only thing smart can hope for is the return to $4/gal gas. However I think we’re looking at the VW Beetle-like “path to death” which is what happens when the crowd who wanted one purchased one and now the easy sales are gone.
@Tstag,
Jaguar Land Rover is up 5%, from 2,894 to 3,042. Sorry, no model breakdown available yet.
The Smart is, and always has been, a bad joke. Its sole advantage is its short length and that is only of value in the kind of cramped cities you find in Europe. In the western hemisphere, that doesn’t matter.
For the same price as a Smart, you can buy a Honda Fit or a stripper Civic and get a real car.
I always got a huge bump in Porsche business in october thru november. A lot of people recieve their bonuses around this time. Bonus time at a porsche store is like tax return time at a store.
“Jetta posted a solid 25% increase … ”
I wonder how much of that is thanks to the TDI? I’m not a TDI fanboy, but is something distinctive the Jetta offers which you simply can’t get in any competing model.
Jetta also has a lot of new content. They are finally supplying a lot of wolfsburgs and in more colors, The wolfsburg has sold really well here since they started building them with the 2.0t. They were just hard to get and only came in black, silver or grey. Also they have made the touchscreen audio system standard on most trims i believe. People seem to go wild over that feature. The jetta is absolutely the best small sedan you can buy in the low 20’s in my opinion. I literally know 10 people who have bought new jettas in the past 3 months.
Obviously the jetta TDI and sportwagon tdi have been a success story for sales figure wise for VW in america.
Thinking outside the box a little, maybe Volkswagen Credit has something to do with it. Getitng loan approvals is more difficult that it used to be. I was the finance manager at a porsche/audi store and used VCI for most of the deals I delivered. I even prefered them over credit unions on used cars! We were always able to carry plenty of money to trade people out of whatever barge they were buried in. They would approve people who were very light, and I could get a lot of the scumbags done as well. A close friend of mine is the GM of a VW store and he loves them too.
This could make a significant difference. You can’t sell cars if your can’t arrange financing. In 2007 when my sister got her first job out of school we went to the VW store to get her a 2007 jetta se. I figured I would be cosigning for her since she was essentially a ghost. VCI bought her with no proof of income, just a letter of intent and 3 trade line on her bureau.
I think you’re onto something there. I realize this is only one dealer but it’s one that I pass on a nearly daily basis and have stopped at a few times. I’ve seen far more TDI models on the lot than ever before. If that’s the case nationwide, maybe VW (finally) got TDI production up and running as planned. It seemed like getting the 2009 TDI models had a very slow buildup due to the pollution controls.
VW also has some attractive leases on the Jetta – I think for most buyers it would be a better lease for a Jetta compared to a new Mazda3 and Honda Civic – to I’ll bet that at least had something to do with the gain.
…and that CC is sharp in person. Nice design.
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John Horner :
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:23 pm
“Jetta posted a solid 25% increase … ”
I wonder how much of that is thanks to the TDI? I’m not a TDI fanboy, but is something distinctive the Jetta offers which you simply can’t get in any competing model.
saponetta – every Jetta trim except the base S model has the touchscreen stereo. You’re forced into the “leatherette” SE to start if a buyer wants the stereo. Just saw it in person and I agree – nice.
Don’t hold me to this but I think Nissan is doing the same thing with the touchscreen stereo in the Altima and most Sentra models.
For $16,500 I got a Jetta S back in April. Nothing else could hold a candle to it in that price range.
I wonder how much of that is thanks to the TDI? I’m not a TDI fanboy, but is something distinctive the Jetta offers which you simply can’t get in any competing model.
I wonder. BMW apparently can’t give the 335d away, judging by how much extra cash they’re putting on the hood of the diesel model compared to the gasoline versions, though.
Audi is much closer to a recent model introductions, whereas BMW is coming up on some new models, which depresses sales. The exception that proves the rule for Audi is that the A8 refresh is coming up. The Q7 numbers are awful for Audi, though, considering the minor refresh for the 2010 models; the Q5 must also be stealing sales.
Still, not great numbers for the Bavarians, even if they have new models coming up soon.
VW actually broke out the TDI sales. It was close to 25% of all jetta sedans were TDI, and 90% of jetta wagons were TDI. I think the wagon number was influenced by the lack of stock on the gas models.
theflyersfan :
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:43 pm
…and now smart realizes what happens when an entire brand is built around one specific idea and types of cars. See Hummer for another example.
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Nothing wrong with building a around one niche market.
The problem with smart is that it’s too expensive for the content. It would have been a wonderful $5000 car.
The problem with Hummer is that the build quality is too low. Match it to Hyundai and Hummer will have no problem surviving.
I couldn’t put my finger on what I disliked about the Smart Car. Then it dawned on me…It’s a circus clown car. You know… one of those little cars in the circus where the clowns keep piling our ad infinitum. And everybody laughs their heads off. If I drove one of those things around town, I’d feel like a circus clown, and everyone on the street would laughing their heads off…at me!