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It might still be a bit early to put a sub-head on this month’s sales, but if GM can serve as Bertel’s China car sales oracle, perhaps they’ll indicate the US market as well. And if they do, we’ll be seeing strong year-over-year sales increases, with much of the new volume coming from compact cars, while large trucks sit flat. If GM doesn’t indicate the market well this month, then we’ll be sure to update our headline when we update the developing sales table which you can find just after the jump.
| Automaker | April 2011 | April 2010 | Pct. chng. | 4 month 2011 |
4 month 2010 |
Pct. chng. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMW division | 18,801 | 17,268 | 9% | 71,417 | 63,591 | 12% |
| Mini | 6,446 | 3,843 | 68% | 18,787 | 12,571 | 49% |
| Rolls-Royce | 44 | 42 | 5% | 176 | 168 | 5% |
| BMW Group | 25,291 | 21,153 | 20% | 90,380 | 76,330 | 18% |
| Chrysler Division | 20,379 | 22,386 | –9% | 63,175 | 69,534 | –9% |
| Dodge | 44,320 | 38,795 | 14% | 146,297 | 121,229 | 21% |
| Dodge/Ram | 63,580 | 53,672 | 19% | 222,381 | 177,292 | 25% |
| Fiat | 882 | – | –% | 1,382 | – | –% |
| Jeep | 32,384 | 19,645 | 65% | 117,237 | 83,092 | 41% |
| Ram | 19,260 | 14,877 | 30% | 76,084 | 56,063 | 36% |
| Chrysler Group LLC | 117,225 | 95,703 | 23% | 404,175 | 329,918 | 23% |
| Maybach | 5 | 5 | 0% | 20 | 23 | 13% |
| Mercedes-Benz | 19,157 | 18,231 | 5% | 75,152 | 68,800 | 9% |
| Smart USA | 467 | 680 | –31% | 1,734 | 2,077 | –17% |
| Daimler AG | 19,629 | 18,916 | 4% | 76,906 | 70,900 | 9% |
| Ford division | 182,048 | 146,330 | 24% | 657,301 | 528,198 | 24% |
| Ford/Lincoln/Mercury | 189,284 | 162,737 | 16% | 684,792 | 590,439 | 16% |
| Lincoln | 7,236 | 7,279 | –1% | 27,243 | 29,689 | –8% |
| Mercury | – | 9,128 | –100% | 248 | 32,552 | –99% |
| Volvo | – | 4,546 | –100% | – | 18,552 | –100% |
| Ford Motor Co. | 189,284 | 167,283 | 13% | 684,792 | 608,991 | 12% |
| Buick | 18,413 | 12,181 | 51% | 63,152 | 44,317 | 43% |
| Cadillac | 13,127 | 11,317 | 16% | 53,639 | 40,669 | 32% |
| Chevrolet | 169,794 | 135,173 | 26% | 586,299 | 472,958 | 24% |
| GMC | 31,204 | 24,037 | 30% | 121,993 | 92,656 | 32% |
| Hummer | – | 481 | –100% | – | 1,336 | –100% |
| Pontiac | – | 52 | –100% | – | 634 | –100% |
| Saab | – | – | –% | – | 608 | –100% |
| Saturn | – | 373 | –100% | – | 6,297 | –100% |
| General Motors | 232,538 | 183,614 | 27% | 825,083 | 659,475 | 25% |
| Acura | 11,604 | 10,719 | 8% | 42,972 | 38,512 | 12% |
| Honda Division | 113,195 | 102,978 | 10% | 389,805 | 331,597 | 18% |
| Honda (American) | 124,799 | 113,697 | 10% | 432,777 | 370,109 | 17% |
| Hyundai division | 61,754 | 44,023 | 40% | 204,374 | 155,532 | 31% |
| Kia | 47,074 | 30,036 | 57% | 151,848 | 106,732 | 42% |
| Hyundai Group | 108,828 | 74,059 | 47% | 356,222 | 262,264 | 36% |
| Jaguar | 1,249 | 896 | 39% | 3,750 | 3,271 | 15% |
| Land Rover | 2,982 | 2,749 | 9% | 11,249 | 9,465 | 19% |
| Jaguar Land Rover | 4,231 | 3,645 | 16% | 14,999 | 12,736 | 18% |
| Maserati | 229 | 186 | 23% | 702 | 580 | 21% |
| Mazda | 20,638 | 18,935 | 9% | 85,197 | 74,876 | 14% |
| Mitsubishi | 8,081 | 3,932 | 106% | 28,248 | 17,555 | 61% |
| Infiniti | 6,761 | 7,211 | –6% | 34,597 | 30,905 | 12% |
| Nissan Division | 64,765 | 56,558 | 15% | 322,287 | 261,093 | 23% |
| Nissan | 71,526 | 63,769 | 12% | 356,884 | 291,998 | 22% |
| Porsche | 3,172 | 1,747 | 82% | 10,179 | 6,969 | 46% |
| Saab Cars North America | 696 | 215 | 224% | 2,765 | 346 | 699% |
| Subaru | 24,762 | 23,198 | 7% | 92,219 | 80,692 | 14% |
| Suzuki | 2,132 | 1,950 | 9% | 8,834 | 7,611 | 16% |
| Lexus | 17,576 | 18,359 | -4% | 64,932 | 67,882 | –4% |
| Scion | 5,710 | 3,577 | 60% | 18,469 | 13,150 | 40% |
| Toyota division | 136,254 | 135,503 | 1% | 510,063 | 462,093 | 10% |
| Toyota/Scion | 141,964 | 139,080 | 2% | 528,532 | 475,243 | 11% |
| Toyota | 159,540 | 157,439 | 1% | 593,464 | 543,125 | 9% |
| Audi | 10,018 | 9,319 | 8% | 35,401 | 30,634 | 16% |
| Bentley | 119 | 127 | –6% | 439 | 438 | 0% |
| VW division | 28,542 | 23,135 | 23% | 95,581 | 81,418 | 17% |
| Volkswagen | 38,679 | 32,581 | 19% | 131,421 | 112,490 | 17% |
| Volvo Cars North America | 6,404 | – | –% | 21,844 | – | –% |
| Other (estimate) | 244 | 241 | 1% | 976 | 963 | 1% |
| TOTAL | 1,157,928 | 982,263 | 18% | 4,218,067 | 3,527,928 | 20% |
Table Courtesy: Automotive News [sub]
46 Comments on “US Auto Sales In April: Bigger Sales, Smaller Cars...”
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Soooooo if the headline stays does this mean the Verano will be a sleeper hit and GM got something right for once?
Looking at Buick’s numbers (up 51%), I think it could happen. If I were thinking about a new car, I’d wait to check out the Verano. Although I can’t see pulling the trigger on a first-year GM product.
Actually I won’t be buying until Summer of 2012 so I’m keeping an eye on the horizon too. Right now I’m torn between practical (Verano, Ford Focus hatch and compeditors, CPO midsize/fullsize Impala LTZ, Taurus, Fusion, Malibu ect) or one last selfish purchase before the kids start coming (Mustang, Genesis Coupe, Camaro… ect.)
@Russycle- GM’s quality systems assure startup quality is a lot better than past years, but there is no doubt that bugs are more likely to be found early.
@EducatorDan- Go for Camaro Convertible! You will have time for sedans later!
Buick has *tremendous* momentum, posting their highest sales since Aug 07, and Aug was a truly fantastic month for them (and GM) in ’07 – high water point for the past 4 years.
Buick (and Caddy) are absolutely destroying Lincoln, Acura and Infiniti. Buick is in position to post Chrysler-level sales, but retail-driven vs fleet driven. So that’s gold for the bean counters.
Buick is now running neck-and-neck with Lexus in terms of sales volume, having outsold them 3 of 4 months year-to-date. With Toyota being capacity-constrained due to 3/11, Buick should outsell Lexus this year.
And numbers-wise, Buick is closing in on BMW numbers (18.4k vs 18.8k).
So, in context of the new push at GM, the stampede to smaller cars, and resurgence of Buick, I think the Verano should do quite well. I think the Verano should easily sell in Regal numbers adding around 5+k per month.
Was the Cimarron a hit? It was nothing more than a rebadge Cavlier as the Verano is a rebadged Chevy Snuze
Caption contest?
I dunno about captioning, but I do know that Toyota seems to be the “best” metric for US sales over the past few years. That is, of all the big companies, Toyota seems to move closest in step with the market average.
The next best bellweather is Ford. If you were to average Ford and Toyota, that would basically cover the overwhelming market shifts.
There’s Emerald City! Oh, we’re almost there at last! At last! It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Just like I knew it would be! He really must be a wonderful wizard to live in a city like that!
Wow – if GM’s figures are indicative of the market. Cruze selling more than 25000 units and Regal which people when it first came out said would sell less than 2000 is now at 4500. Interesting that the Silverado added virtually no sales and was only a few thousand ahead of the Cruze. Want to see how the Civic and Corolla sell – maybe a reordering is in the works.
Even more interesting is that GM only built 26,184 Cruze’s and sold 25,160 – talk about capacity constrained.
There sure were a lot of Cruzes at Avis. I wonder what the retail/fleet spit is.
You do want production to be inline with capacity. Too many Cruze’s being built will be a problem all around. I would say that GM is doing a good job on that front, especially if the inventory is matching up pretty good with demand.
It will be interesting to see how smaller production from the Tsunami will effect the sales in short and long terms.
The Cruze is a significant leap forward for GM in their small cars so it sells very well b/c of that fact. But depending on how much GM stuffs into rental channels and other fleet sales will still hurt the value / reputation but GM’s been doing this for many, many decades as a way to move the metal.
Thanks Thornmark for extrapolating from one rental place to the whole of the US!
I have noticed a new Focus and a new Elantra at my local rental place. I was very surprised with the Elantra since they are hard to come by – obviously some rental sales take preference over retail. It does not lead me to think Hyundai re goosing their Elantra sales.
For once Mark could you just accept good news from GM – they sold virtually all the Cruze’s they made. Their retail market share went up in line with overall sales I think. The Cruze in particular grew more in retail than fleet compared to the Cobalt (not hard I know – retail up 80%, total sales up 50% compared to Cobalt).
I rent every week and have noticed a wider variety of cars nowadays. Even new designs like the Jetta, Focus, Elantra, Sonata, many Kias. Of course, still plenty of Impalas, Malibus, HHRs, Chryslers. Today, I scored a Regal for the first time!
How did you like the Regal?
(Responding to SVX Pearlie)
Regal CXL Pros:
-Looks great in real life!
-Nice handling.
-Comfy seats (except for headrest)
-minimal NVH
Cons:
-Steering is unnaturally heavy at parking-lot speeds.
-Headrest angle is very uncomfortable. If I owned the car, I’d seriously consider a permanent solution for the headrest issue.
-Too many buttons for stereo and HVAC. (I want more knobs!) And I found the controls not intuitive. Example: Temperature is controlled by a rotary knob, but fan speed is controlled by two buttons. I would have reversed this.
Power is adequate. Auto transmission is not annoying (It doesn’t upshift too fast). I feel that the interior quality is perhaps a tiny bit less fancy than it should be for this class.
At least Buick finally seems to be nailing the whole “A Buick should be silent inside.” Even if Buicks just end up being quieter Chevys that might make me buy.
Thanks, Hi5!
I guess the heavy steering is a side effect of being tuned for highway / Autobahn speeds?
“Adequate power” sounds about right as well, as sport drivers are more Chevy SS / Caddy V, but if Buick GS gains traction, that’s a possibility.
Karesh also commented on the headrests – GM obviously needs to do something smarter here, kind of like how they added “hiper strut” to the LaCrosse to deal with torque steer.
Overall, seems like Buick hit most of the marks for the Regal in terms of NVH and comfort.
What’s the headrest issue?
Buick headrest is too hard, and too far forward, so not so comfortable.
Interesting is that GM is allocating Volts for dealer demos versus customers. People that have never stepped foot into a Chevrolet dealership are doing so because of the Volt. You can figure out what happens next.
That was the plan, which is why GM started pushing the demo Volts to dealers.
2,500 units at $41k MSRP each is over $100M in marketing allocation. I hope it’s worth it…
How many are allocated for dealers? Are they just stuffing them out back or are they actually showing off their 45 thousand dollar econobox?
There are over 570 of them for sale right now and the leaf outsold it last month so…… ya…. Better bring them around front now.
Ford losing steam?
“In April, total sales were 189,778, up 16 percent. Retail sales were up 10 percent and fleet sales were up 31 percent (commercial was up 33 percent, government grew 10 percent, and daily rental increased 39 percent).”
GM killed Ford this month in sales.
Ford goosed sales in March, at the same time GM throttled back on incentives. Things are more-or-less back to “normal” for GM relative to Ford.
With the Koreans’ product line being highly competitive and recently refreshed – Honda / Toyota need to watch out.
In fact with what is looking like 6 months of lower production – I’d expect to see Hyundai / Kia surpass Honda as they were already gaining and coming close when Honda had full capacity.
Exactly. Honda and Toyota had small increases in sales (below market growth yet again) whilst GM did well and the Koreans very well.
It is easy for people on here to complain about this or that, but the sales data are facts and the people who comment/read this site are probably not representative of the general public.
Once a Honda/Toyota buyer goes to another company they have a strong chance of being lost to Honda/Toyota for a long time.
I think Nissan has already been passed YTD by the Hyundai/Kia. Nissan was one of the hardest hit so they will definitely drop even further.
And the worst part for Nissan is that they goosed sales last month, clearing out inventory like crazy. I’d hate to be a Nissan dealer right now…
The Cruze not only outsold the Corolla, it also sells at an average transaction price of 3000$
more than the corolla and 2000$ more than the civic. GM has a hit on its hands. With looming supply issues at
Toyota, if GM can get more people, who would never consider domestic to try the Cruze, this could become a trend!!
http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/555168/Cruising-to-the-top.html
Good to see the Malibu selling 25K units, nipping away on Camry and Accord sales. The Malibu is slowly
gaining in the retail sector and once more people start trying it, it will soon be a major player
in the mid size segment.
Note: Corolla numbers include the Matrix. If GM includes HHR sales (6,222) to the cruze, then they
might actually outsell them consistently
The Matrix is Corolla based, does the HHR share any kinship with the Cruze? (Answer: No. The HHR is Cobalt based.)
@Dan, I think the sales numbers are based on nameplate. IIRC, There was a time back in the 80’s that Corollas were sold as FWD sedans & hatchbacks, and the AE86 RWD hatches here in the US. Two different chassis, one nameplate.
As for the Cruze and the HHR, they are both Delta based, but the difference being Delta I (HHR), and Delta II (Cruze).
I personally don’t think it’s right to include the sub-models the way the Japanese do it.
I don’t think it’s right either. I was simply stating that at least in counting Matrix sales as part of Corolla sales, Toyota is at least using something from the same platform.
The Koreans do this too, lumping the totally unrelated Genesis sedan & (should be Kia) coupe into a single number.
In depth article from Edmunds : http://www.autoobserver.com/2011/05/april-results-belie-worrisome-new-dynamics.html
Toyota and Honda built their business here on leadership in the compact and midsize sedan market and small SUV/crossover and now the compact sedan market is a four way race (Chevy, Hyundai, Honda and Toyota) with others a little behind (VW, Ford and Nissan) whilst in the midsize market Toyota and Honda still lead but by significantly reduced margins. Times are changing.
Thanks for the link. I didn’t know that Edmunds had a site like that.
Autobserver was easier to find until last year when Edmunds redesigned their site. Has some useful information but not as updated as TTAC or as editorialised.
Yep, I knew it. Nissan fudged up sales last month, the drop in sales was huge when compared to March 75,000 vs. 110,000! Altima dropped to nearly half, what happened last month?
Nissan put piles of money on the hood (and under the table) while GM was profit-taking. It bought them an all-time sales record.
The resulting crash this month is because they have no product to sell. And next month should be worse as 3/11 makes its impact known.
If you’re Nissan, everybody else is laughing and pointing at you.
And 1 out of every 3 GM vehicles still go to rental companies.
Hows’ that for loyalty!
Fleet or retail, GM doesn’t sell vehicles at anything close to MSRP, dealers do. As long as GM keeps getting orders, it’s never a bad thing, or is it? Even the best cars are going to need repairs, hopefully out of warranty. Collision damage? After a redesign, original equipment may be your only option. That’s loyalty.
Garbage – you are factually incorrect. 26% of sales were to FLEETS. Not all fleets are the daily rental market. Ford sold 33% to fleets.
Sorry to burst your bubble of hate (as your username indicates your objective nature!).
You’ll have to excuse him – he’s stuck in a time loop back when GM was Old GM.
Hey guys!
I’ve got a Top 85 best selling models in the USA in April 2011 if you are interested:
http://bestsellingcarsblog.com/2011/05/07/usa-april-2011-chevrolet-cruze-in-top-10-for-the-first-time/
cheers
Matt