The U.S. auto industry’s May 2016 sales performance was much better than the numbers suggest, but there were disappointing results in some quarters.
Due to a quirk in the auto sales calendar – May 2016 had two fewer selling days than May 2015 – the period in which sales were generated for the “May” period was simply too brief for May 2016 to measure up to May 2015. This is more easily seen with a look at the daily selling rate picture, where industry-wide results were up two percent, a far less daunting figure than the six percent decline in real volume reported by the industry overall.
Pickup truck sales volume dipped only slightly as Ford F-Series sales jumped nine percent. Toyotas, the Camry and RAV4, claimed top spots among passenger cars and SUVs/crossovers, respectively. The luxury crown was worn by Mercedes-Benz, where strong utility vehicle sales overcame disappointing car sales numbers.
General Motors outsold the Ford Motor Company by 5,702 units to end May as America’s top-selling manufacturer, but GM volume was restricted by poor availability of newer models and less emphasis on fleet volume. Dearborn’s Ford brand continues as America’s top-selling individual brand, though Ford’s car volume plunged 26 percent in May, a loss of more than 22,000 sales.
At Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, meanwhile, May 2016 was the automaker’s 74th consecutive month of growth. Thanks to Jeep’s best-ever month, FCA sales grew by 2,225 units.
| Auto Brand | May 2016 | May 2015 | % Change | 2016 YTD | 2015 YTD | % Change |
|
Acura
|
13,561 | 17,042 | -20.4% | 67,642 | 71,560 | -5.5% |
|
Alfa Romeo
|
44 | 40 | 10.0% | 273 | 295 | -7.5% |
|
Audi
|
18,728 | 18,428 | 1.6% | 78,489 | 75,353 | 4.2% |
|
BMW
|
29,017 | 31,003 | -6.4% | 124,581 | 136,447 | -8.7% |
|
Buick
|
15,625 | 20,062 | -22.1% | 87,362 | 88,783 | -1.3% |
|
Cadillac
|
12,099 | 14,408 | -16.0% | 58,968 | 67,384 | -12.5% |
|
Chevrolet
|
169,331 | 207,970 | -18.6% | 825,503 | 872,363 | -5.4% |
|
Chrysler
|
24,276 | 29,802 | -18.5% | 112,625 | 139,439 | -19.2% |
|
Dodge
|
42,837 | 45,268 | -5.4% | 226,921 | 213,685 | 6.2% |
|
Fiat
|
3,137 | 3,867 | -18.9% | 15,191 | 18,661 | -18.6% |
| Ford | 224,941 | 240,912 | -6.6% | 1,061,586 | 1,024,852 | 3.6% |
|
GMC
|
43,395 | 50,657 | -14.3% | 211,602 | 217,662 | -2.8% |
|
Honda
|
133,547 | 137,551 | -2.9% | 585,998 | 547,044 | 7.1% |
|
Hyundai
|
71,006 | 63,610 | 11.6% | 306,549 | 303,648 | 1.0% |
|
Infiniti
|
10,828 | 10,474 | 3.4% | 53,920 | 54,295 | -0.7% |
|
Jaguar
|
2,164 | 1,204 | 79.7% | 8,248 | 6,619 | 24.6% |
|
Jeep
|
90,545 | 79,652 | 13.7% | 384,440 | 330,160 | 16.4% |
|
Kia
|
62,926 | 62,433 | 0.8% | 265,755 | 256,815 | 3.5% |
|
Land Rover
|
4,950 | 5,382 | -8.0% | 30,943 | 27,669 | 11.8% |
|
Lexus
|
26,682 | 29,671 | -10.1% | 125,785 | 132,727 | -5.2% |
|
Lincoln
|
9,807 | 9,174 | 6.9% | 44,488 | 38,786 | 14.7% |
|
Maserati
|
945 | 1,341 | -29.5% | 4,261 | 4,330 | -1.6% |
|
Mazda
|
28,328 | 29,603 | -4.3% | 119,166 | 131,770 | -9.6% |
|
Mercedes-Benz °
|
29,299 | 29,582 | -1.0% | 134,304 | 136,922 | -1.9% |
|
Mercedes-Benz Vans °
|
2,848 | 2,769 | 2.9% | 12,677 | 11,092 | 14.3% |
|
Total Mercedes-Benz °
|
32,147 | 32,351 | -0.6% | 146,981 | 148,014 | -0.7% |
|
Mini
|
4,595 | 5,833 | -21.2% | 20,230 | 24,086 | -16.0% |
|
Mitsubishi
|
9,025 | 9,575 | -5.7% | 43,911 | 41,581 | 5.6% |
|
Nissan
|
122,668 | 124,305 | -1.3% | 603,641 | 557,960 | 8.2% |
|
Porsche
|
4,578 | 4,268 | 7.3% | 22,226 | 20,915 | 6.3% |
|
Ram
|
43,613 | 43,598 | 0.0% | 215,736 | 194,868 | 10.7% |
|
Scion
|
6,659 | 4,806 | 38.6% | 31,541 | 21,093 | 49.5% |
|
Smart
|
420 | 837 | -49.8% | 2,186 | 2,850 | -23.3% |
|
Subaru
|
50,083 | 49,561 | 1.1% | 232,860 | 228,083 | 2.1% |
|
Toyota
|
185,998 | 208,102 | -10.6% | 842,217 | 867,708 | -2.9% |
|
Volkswagen
|
28,779 | 34,758 | -17.2% | 125,205 | 144,006 | -13.1% |
|
Volvo
|
5,536 | 5,023 | 10.2% | 28,066 | 23,381 | 20.0% |
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
|
BMW-Mini
|
33,612 | 36,836 | -8.8% | 144,811 | 160,533 | -9.8% |
|
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
|
204,452 | 202,227 | 1.1% | 955,186 | 897,108 | 6.5% |
|
DaimlerAG
|
32,567 | 33,188 | 1.9% | 149,167 | 150,864 | -1.1% |
|
Ford Motor Co.
|
234,748 | 250,086 | -6.1% | 1,106,074 | 1,063,638 | 4.0% |
|
General Motors
|
240,450 | 293,097 | -18.0% | 1,183,705 | 1,246,192 | -5.0% |
|
Honda Motor Co.
|
147,108 | 154,593 | -4.8% | 653,640 | 618,604 | 5.7% |
|
Hyundai-Kia
|
133,932 | 126,043 | 6.3% | 572,304 | 560,463 | 2.1% |
|
Jaguar-Land Rover
|
7,114 | 6,586 | 8.0% | 39,191 | 34,288 | 14.3% |
|
Nissan Motor Co.
|
133,496 | 134,779 | -1.0% | 657,561 | 612,255 | 7.4% |
|
Toyota Motor Corp.
|
219,339 | 242,579 | -9.6% | 999,543 | 1,021,528 | -2.2% |
|
Volkswagen Group *
|
52,197 | 57,698 | -9.5% | 226,404 | 241,300 | -6.2% |
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
|
Industry Total
|
1,535,670
|
1,635,397
|
-6.1%
|
7,129,281
|
7,048,818
|
1.1% |
Source: Manufacturers
[Image Source: Kia]
* Volkswagen Group includes sales figures for Audi, Bentley, Porsche, and Volkswagen brands
° Mercedes-Benz USA releases sales figures for the Mercedes-Benz brand in the conventional sense, vans excluded, as well as totals for the Metris and Sprinter vans. The complete picture is included here.
** Industry total takes into account Automotive News figures/estimates for brands such as Tesla (2,250 May units) and other low-volume, high-priced manufacturers.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.
Whoooooooooooooooooooooo Scion!
Oh wait.
Cadillac vs Lincoln. Hmmmmmmm looks like the strategy of trying to be Acura/Lexus is a better strategy than trying to be Mercedes/BMW.
Im quite excited to watch Lincoln surpass Cadillac in sales.
Just wait ’til Cadillac opens that coffee bar in NYC tomorrow, and draw all the Millennials to the brand. Not. Maybe Melody Lee can get some practice there, and become a barista at Starbucks, once Cadillac’s sales numbers collapse.
dukeisduke – sounds like DeadWeight.
The force is strong in this one ;)
For all the nay-sayers who claimed Lincoln was doomed with no hope, time to eat your words.
No, 6.9% isn’t huge, but the brand is slowly but surely turning around. When the new Continental drops, along with the 400 hp refreshed MKZ and the all new Navigator, we will see stronger and stronger numbers. Things are already looking up, though.
Don’t read the tea leaves yet.
If you could get a lincoln interior in a ford, would there be a need for lincoln?
Sure, you could ask the same thing of Toyota. But Lexus makes a ton of money on all their cars. And they don’t really cut deals on their cars. Sure, a few dealers in more popular states might make some deals. But at my local lincoln dealer, they’re taking 6.5k off a 48k MKC without you having to ask. Good luck finding a lexus dealer willing to take 6.5k off a current model year RX350 for anyone who can fog a mirror.
But Lincolns are functionally just high trim level fords (and they’re usually sold side by side) until Lincoln can start getting people to pay 10k+ for the Lincoln. And when you look at the investment in Lincoln, it’s perhaps starting to pay off but it has quite a bit to go until it was a better investment than returning the money to the shareholders.
Even with discounts they are getting $10K more for a Lincoln then a Ford. At least for the MkZ, MKC, MKX, and Navigator. The D-platform profucts…not so much. The MkT Ecoboost is a better lease than the equivalent Explorer/Flex right now. It’s a MUCH better used deal too.
No way dude.
2016 MKZ with AWD – MSRP 41k. Internet Price – $37.8
http://www.morriesmtkalincoln.com/New-2016-LINCOLN-MKZ-4DR-SDN-AWD-Minnetonka-MN/vd/29017582
2016 Fusion Titanium with AWD – MSRP 32k.
Maybe the real world transaction price delta is 10k, but the bridge between ford’s MSRP and Lincoln’s real price is pretty narrow and the volumes aren’t that good – the whole brand dangerously near the RX’s and 3 Series’ volumes.
Not to mention that the FWD Lexus ESs trade for ~45k which is closer to a 15k premium over a comparable Camry.
I’ll agree that Lincoln was a brand worth saving once it turns into a money machine like Lexus.
“If you could get a lincoln interior in a ford, would there be a need for lincoln?”
The same is true for most any luxury brand that sells versions of their parent company’s mainstream product. That argument is valid on cars like the MKS. However, Lincoln is getting cars (Continental) and engines (Twin Turbo 3.0L V-6) that cannot be found on a Ford lot, and more Lincoln-exclusive product is planned.
You can’t turn a company around completely overnight, it takes time, and we are seeing that Ford is doing the right thing by further distancing Lincoln from their mainstream offerings.
Not in the slightest.
“The same is true for most any luxury brand that sells versions of their parent company’s mainstream product”
Lexus and Audi obviously command a premium because of the dealer experience and badge. Yeah, not every Lexus and Audi is available as a Toyota or VW but look at the sales of A4s / ESs / RXs. Obviously people are ponying up the coin for a better experience and a badge.
John/Taurus…
You are basically correct but still there is more.
I know, I tested them both when purchasing my 2010 back in late 09.
I REALLY wanted the SHO.
The just released SHO had the same engine, but nowhere near the available options the MKS Ultra pack had. No adaptive lights, no bridge of weir leather, no dual sun roof…the list goes on.
So perhaps they were the same car, but not the same purchase options.
Yamahog, which toyota is the RX again?
What do you mean “drops”? They’re already heading to dealers and some are on dealer lots.
Good luck to Lincoln to try and sell a `16 MKS next to the Continental, hell Chicago still has some sitting around that haven’t even shipped yet.
I’ll buy one for 1/2 off with a 6-7 year 100K+ warranty. That’s what they are going to be going for used next year anyway.
When all the cars on aggressive lease deals get returned it’s going to be a blood bath.
“What do you mean “drops”? They’re already heading to dealers and some are on dealer lots.”
That simply isn’t true. Go to Lincoln.com and it says “Avalible fall 2016” and “Now accepting orders”. I don’t think they moved up production but forgot to update the website.
Do you think that if it was already on sale that nobody at TTAC, AutoBlog, Car & Driver, Motor Trend, Automobile, Edmunds or anyone else has bothered to drive it and publish a review? That makes no sense whatsoever. You can’t just make things up and dispense them as fact. It doesn’t work that way, unless your name is Barack Obama, then for some reason, its all okay and we should just accept it or be labeled a racist.
MKS production has already ended. Having some on hand, ready to go to dealerships in June has little bearing on what happens in the fall. The supply will likely be fairly dried up by then, maybe not completely but it won’t overlap much.
“MKS production has already ended.”
You think I don’t know that? I watched the first car roll down, the refresh and the last car roll down the line. Did you??
And my apologies, the units I saw were demonstrators that have been floating around the area. Pre production has been in full swing.
And please don’t lecture me on the publications not driving vehicles before they hit the lots. That simply is not true either. Hyundai has long been known to have cars at dealers by the time the press gets around to it.
And also spare me your crappy attitude; especially when you bring stupid crap up like people being racist, that’s absolutely uncalled for and certainly not relevant to this subject. You need to sit the hell down and chill out.
*I* need to calm down? I’m not taking this personally, as you obviously are. My “crappy attitude” is that you are wrong.
“You think I won’t know that?”
Yeah, you’re clearly chillin like Bob Dylon on penicillin. Get ahold of yourself, you were wrong by “correcting” me, and I responded. I don’t know if you often encounter people who won’t let you correcting them with wrong information slide, but its not worth getting this excited. Next time, when you feel like telling someone how wrong they are, try checking your facts first.
Since when does Ford = Hyundai? They just did a big media drive event for the facelifted Fusion, you think they wouldn’t do the same (or SOMETHING) for an all-new Lincoln? What Hyundai does makes no difference. Lincoln, for lack of a better term, is desperate to get buzz going so they can “right the ship”, as it were. I seriously doubt they would start deliveries of a car they are clearly so proud of without letting the press have a crack at it first. You know that point is valid, take a chill pill and move on.
I wasn’t calling you (or anyone else) racist, for crying out loud, I was making a comment about how anyone who dares question our esteemed leader is chided (usually by the media or the administration itself). It was a joke, and if you didn’t have steam coming out of your ears because I had the audacity to respond to your misinformation, you might’ve realized that. It wasn’t meant to be personal, I certainly wasn’t seriously comparing your little gaff to “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan!” If that’s how it came across, I apologize.
TTAC needs to do Best & Worst automotive division CEO/COO contest.
Johan de Nysschen would absolutely win the award for worst CEO/COO by a historically wide margin, and thanks should be doled out and shared to and with Melody CaTwalk-Lee & Uwe “Euro Purse Puppy” Ellinghaus, also.
I do fear they may harken the death of The Cadillac Horseless Carriage & Coachbuilding Co., PLLC, oh my!
It’s funny – usually groups do a much better job of picking ‘losers’ than ‘winners’. You could be on to something.
de Nysschen is a snake oil salesman and I don’t know what deal he made with the devil but he’s probably got a coalition of board members on his speed dial because I can’t imagine Mary Barra would allow him to continue pissing money away on Cadillac.
Other news agencies claim that Cadillac is raking in obscene profits, regardless of how few units they sell.
Any profit made by the Cadillac division is because of Escalade bucks and creative accounting.
Here are VW’s “bright spots” if you can call them that.
Best ever May for Tiguan, with 4,394 units, a 42.7 percent increase
Best ever May for Golf R, with 433 units, a 38.8 percent increase
My question is – who the eff is buying Tiguans when there are so many competing models that are better?
Who is buying Tiguans? People who love a subsidized lease.
They probably could have sold more of each if they had more on the ground at dealers–supplies are tight for both. VW was forced to get aggressive on Tiguan pricing so their dealers could make up some TDI volume and it looks like it is doing the trick. The downside is that the Tiguan is made in Germany instead of Chattanooga or Mexico like the Passat and Jetta so VW is probably making a lot less on every unit even with the increased sales.
Dodge and Jeep numbers look good, but Chrysler and Fiat? Off the cliff.
And is there any point for Smart to exist anymore, at least in the US? I don’t think so.
I wonder if it’s the iA that is making Scion sales rise, I barely see any new iM’s around these parts.
iA sold 3,000 units last month while iM sold 1700.
I think they’re having a sort-of fire sale closeout on Scions – at least where I live. My son got a nice discount off of that non-negotiable price on the iA before the rebate and college grad discounts. Also, the college grad discount has guaranteed best rate financing, so that was another chunk of money. Another nice surprise was an insurance discount because of the automatic brake feature.
I do like that Maserati in the title picture, but can’t help but notice that it looks a little too much like a freaking Kia from this distance. I had to zoom in on my device to confirm it was indeed a Maserati.
Wait, that’s a Maserati?
Heck I thought it was a Kia too. Didn’t even bother to check, I’m used to Hyundai-Kia being in the black.
It’s a Kia. Kia sales are up; Maserati down.
Whatever it is, it looks like it hatched out of the egg-shaped boulders in the background.
Damn, it is a Kia! I zoomed in and I guess the way the sunlight is hitting the center of the grille made me think it was the chrome Maserati logo. I stand corrected.
It’s the 2017 Sportage.
I sat in a Sportage identical to that one on Monday – what a nice car.
Give it 5 years.
Kia vehicles age, well, let’s be diplomatic…
…not well.
Source?
I had a 2006 Sportage from 2010 to 2012. In that time the HVAC, ABS & Power Steering Pump had to be replaced, in addition to it being a tremendous gas guzzler for no apparent reason and having more body roll than a 1970s land yacht. Not a Kia fan.
It would be interesting to remove pickup sales from these numbers to show just how dependent the “Big 3” are.
FCA/Marchionne would be swimming with the fish if it wasn’t for Ram or Jeep.
Ford car sales are down 8.2% YTD and at 322,795 were 29% of total vehicle sales.
https://media.ford.com/content/dam/fordmedia/North%20America/US/2016/06/1/may-2016-sales.pdf
FCA car sales are down 8% YTD and at 279,075 were 29% of total vehicles sales.
http://www.fcagroup.com/en-US/media_center/fca_press_release/FiatDocuments/2016/june/MAY_2016_FCA_US_LLC_SALES_IN_USA.pdf
GM’s press release doesn’t have a car/SUV/truck breakdown.
http://www.gm.com/content/dam/gm/mol/docs/GM-Deliveries-May-2016.pdf
Which begs the question: Did Fiat save Chrysler or vice versa?
I think it’s a bit of both. Fiat obviously took over Chrysler when nobody else could. 6 years later, Ram and Jeep are (probably) the two most profitable brands in the FCA portfolio.
If you dig deeper though, Chrysler had nothing on deck when Fiat got them. They needed new technology and new investment. Some of the Fiat stuff has done great, like the Cherokee, some not so much, but overall it’s been positive. There weren’t a lot of players around in 2009 who had the ability to take over Chrysler. It’s not just a money thing, they needed new platforms, and they needed them quickly. Daimler and Cerberus had bled them dry.
Realistically speaking, the only other contenders were large groups with no North-American presence. That’s either Fiat, or Peugeot, and Peugeot wasn’t doing well at the time.
Looks like the answer is yes.
The flip side of that coin is that Marchionne bet on Jeep and Ram, and it’s paid-off big.
He’d be in trouble right now if he’d placed his bets on strong sedan sales.
Can a B&B explain the Scion numbers? Vultures? Dead cat bounce?
It’s not like they’re having a going out of business sale.
>> It’s not like they’re having a going out of business sale.
Here’s an example of the discounted pricing on the iA. This was before the college discount and some other discount they threw in for my son because his mother has her car serviced at the dealer. This is a different dealer than his, but it’s the same price.
http://www.scionofbraintree.com/new/scion/ia/in-stock/2016-scion-ia-braintree-massachusetts-26193852
New cars. They took over Mazda2 sales, which wouldn’t be much for most other brands, but it meant a lot for Scion.
2 new, well-liked, affordable products in the last few months
I still don’t get why Sergio pulled the plug on the 200. some improvements would have helped save it, now they got no midsize to compete with.
He could have given it a facelift and renamed it Reliant or Aries, and sold a few more to those who just weren’t paying attention.
A proper wheelbase doesn’t fall under “some improvements” category. The entire platform needs to be fixed.
FCA is close to retaking 3rd place in the US! I can’t wait to see how the Maserati Levante and Alfa Giulia do. JLR does 7k units a month. I think that would be a pretty good goal for Alfa and Maserati. Once the Levante, Giulia, and Stelvia, and other models fill out their line ups.
I know people talk shit about the investment in Alfa and Maserati, but about half their new models will be crossovers with higher profit margins than Jeep. What’s better than investing in new Jeeps? Investing in crossovers with higher margins than Jeeps.
Also, it’s a sad world we live in where Mazda sales are down and the garbage Nissan builds is up.
Weird that Chevy sales are so far down. Their product is decent these days.
Fiat’s 500 is nosediving, and the 500X isn’t making up the difference. And the niche 124 won’t really help much.
Give the 500X a better drivetrain, and it could be competitive.
Jaguar up 79.7% month to month on first month of limited availability of F-Pace and XE, up 24.6% year to year. The turnaround has begun!
Is the Hyundai jump an anomaly or are they growing that much market share?
Don’t call it a comeback; they’ve been here for years.