How did Tokyo digest Toyota’s lackluster U.S. May sales performance? In a market that forged ahead by 19 percent, Toyota grew only 6.7 percent. Even more embarrassing, other Japanese brands like Mazda (+ 35 percent), Subaru (+35 percent), or Nissan (+24 percent) had outpaced the market. When Tokyo woke up to the bad news this morning, everybody ran to the phone, called their broker and … Read More >
The first numbers are out for May. Sales of new cars dropped 9.66 percent in relation to April. Why? This is the first month in which the full effect of the end of the incentive program was felt. Many dealers however kept up incentive pricing avoiding the 20% drop I had predicted. All is not lost though. Read More >
The Lexus LF-A is sold out. Your $375k may now resume burning a hole in your pocket, bank account, investment portfolio, Scrooge McDuck-style treasure vault. Bonus LF-A trivia point (courtesy: Automotive News [sub]): one out of every three LF-As sold in Europe went to Germany. And that’s all Toyota will say about that. Meanwhile, ToMoCo’s other, more “mission critical” sales numbers are slightly less inscrutable…
China has finally revealed its worst kept secret and announced a pilot program for five Chinese cities. It’s raining cash for buyers of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. And it “reflects Beijing’s resolve to foster domestic brands,” says Reuters.
Really? At first glance, there is no discrimination against laowei cars. Read More >
No sooner had TTAC posted its list of Top Ten Automakers (by volume), than Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn weighed in on his firms’ chances of moving on up. He tells Reuters:
Very likely this year, we should be in the top three
Volkswagen is currently in third place, with 6,290,000 units built in 2009. Nissan was in eigth place last year with 2,744,562 units (down 19 percent), while Renault came in tenth with 2,309,188 units (down 4.5 percent). Combined, the two firms accounted for 5,053,750 units, or about 1.2 billion units fewer than VW’s third-place showing (and only a few hundred thousand better than Ford, in fourth place).
Everybody is waiting for a sign of the Chinese car boom to go ka-boom. Bloomberg aims to please, and has the story that Chinese “passenger-car sales growth slowed in May as falling stock prices eroded wealth and consumer prices rose in the world’s largest automobile market.” Bloomberg is alarmed that growth was only 25 percent. Let’s have a look. Read More >
Some time in summer, OICA will announce the world production ranking of all automakers and answer that all-important question: Who are the world’s largest auto makers? TTAC readers are an impatient bunch and are used to hear and know stuff before anybody else. TTAC is pleased to announce the preliminary, unofficial world ranking of 2009 production. Who’s the top? Who’s the bottom? Who dominates the industry? We present you: The top ten car makers in the world. Read More >
Japanese car buyers are still auto otaku. In May, new car sales in Japan rose for the tenth straight month. Total sales of registered vehicles are up 28 percent to 228,514 units, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association told The Nikkei [sub].
Not only are the sales growing, the cars are getting bigger too. Read More >
Mercury isn’t the only entry-luxury brand in free-fall… it’s just the worst of a beat-up bunch. We’ve included Lincoln to help illustrate Ford’s larger luxury-brand issues, and Buick and Acura for competing-brand comparison.
Toyota has released their production numbers for the first four months. So has Volkswagen. GM has not, but that doesn’t change the general picture: Toyota is still in the lead in worldwide production, Volkswagen catches up a bit, but sits solidly in the #3 position for the first four months of the year. Read More >
Nobody in possession of his or her faculties doubts that China will remain the world’s largest auto market for this year and years to come. In 2009, Chinese bought 13.6m vehicles, up 45 percent. In the U.S.A. 10.4m units changed hands in 2009, down 21.2 percent. This year, the U.S. A. is expected to recover, but not by much: J.D. Power forecasts 11.2m units sold in the U.S. for 2010. How many will be driven off dealers’ lots in China this year? Read More >
In January, the Chinese government had warned its (mostly government-owned) car companies to go easy on capacity expansion. Car sales in China were expected to show more sedate numbers than last year’s torrid growth rate of 45 percent. Sales did not follow government orders. In the first four months of 2010, Chinese car sales grew 60.51 percent. Now finally, the government can say “we told you so.” China’s car dealers sit on a mountain of unsold cars. Read More >
After exhaustive study of the U.S. economy and buying patters, J.D. Power raised their U.S. sales outlook. From previously forecasted 11.7m units to 11.8m units. Rental car lots are seen to absorb a good chunk of the total. True retail sales are projected to be 9.7m units when the year is over. “Much of this is due to the increased fleet mix,” says Jeff Schuster, executive director of global forecasting at J.D. Power and Associates. In May, J.D. Power is “looking for fleet sales to account for 24 percent of total sales.” Read More >
Worried about SUVs becoming an endangered species? Don’t dare to drive your Expedition or Escalade out of fear of being stigmatized by the neighbors? Come to China! China’s auto boom is overshadowed by a much bigger boom: The explosion of the SUV market. Read More >
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