The whole truck category continues to stumble through this terrible year. Year to date, the Tundra (-45%) is the big loser among the big trucks. Ford can claim the big PU title, but as usual, the Chevy/GMC duo combined outsells the F-Series. So who takes the crown? The Dakota is still in free-fall, while the ancient Ranger has the smallest YTD drop. The Transit Connect has connected quite well, and is the third best seller currently among the vans. Details follow: Read More >
Are you surprised that the Versa is the segment leader? It does offer a roomy versatile package for the buck. And it reflects the reality of 2009: maximum utility for minimum price. The Fit’s a bit pricey, and is coming off a stellar 2008. The Accent and Rio’s sales combined would make the true subcompact leader, not surprisingly. Their success can be seen in the Yaris’ less-than stellar numbers. Aveo is a perpetual laggard. Mini got hit hard recently, but not as bad as Smart, which is really smarting. Chart follows: Read More >
From here on out, GM’s success in the US market comes down to two people: Susan Docherty and Mark Reuss. The two fielded their first joint sales conference call last week, and it was clear that they were still settling into their roles. Listen to the whole hour of awkwardness here, or, for a quick summary check out the final questions of the session (from the WSJ’s John Stoll), and the prickly, defensive answers from Docherty and Reuss. When Stoll asks how Reuss and Docherty expect to change a culture when they’re a product of that culture, the tension is palpable. Then, when Stoll accuses Docherty’s sales organization of buying market share with incentives, the pair’s non-answer is “I guess that’s what you feel.” Meanwhile, Edmunds reports that GM has by far the highest incentives of any automaker, with a True Cost of Incentives of $4,270, over a thousand dollars more than number two Chrysler. Good thing we’re tackling those problems head-on then.
In keeping with our Jeep theme today, let’s take a look at how its off-road capable descendants are doing. There are a couple of qualifications here. I included the Dodge Nitro because I forgot to include it in the CUV snapshot. Or where does that belong? And I don’t have the premium European brands SUVs here. Would anyone take one off-road? But then the same applies to a few of the ones here too. Analysis and chart follows: Read More >
“Susan is more than capable of doing the job,” said Mark LaNeve, a mentor of Ms. Docherty’s who left GM in October and is now CMO at Allstate. The position “is a very big job and it’s a lot easier when the market is good than when the market is bad.”
From AdAge‘s paean to GM Sales and Marketing Diva Susan Docherty. Of course, what AdAge fails to mention is that LaNeve was ousted after overseeing years of declining sales, a detail that casts his judgment on the topic severely into question. No worries though. AdAge enthuses that Docherty is
described by insiders and former co-workers as a smart, hard-charging and pragmatic leader who will push responsibility down the food chain and vigorously defend ad managers who work for her — while being a champion of creative and holding them accountable for their decisions.
Uh huh. Too bad the primary evidence for this is the fact that Docherty “vigorously defended” the Buick ad seen above from none other than GM’s Bob Lutz. A former colleague of Docherty’s describes that bold stand as “good for the creative side,” and GM CEO Ed Whitacre must agree, seeing as he recently stripped Bob Lutz of his marketing title and gave it to Docherty. When MaxBob sounds like the only sane person in the building and ousted deadwood execs are endorsing their replacements, you know it’s time to get scared.
Semantics! What do you call the Flex? Ford thinks the mini-van label is taboo. So is a FWD Flex more of a CUV than an AWD Sienna? What’s the Mazda CX 9? I happen to think the Journey is a replacement for the discontinued short-wheelbase Caravan. Does it really matter? Chrysler is still dominant, especially when the Journey is included. The Odyssey is the bestselling single nameplate, but obviously the Chrysler twins have it beat. But the Chrysler off-shoot VW Routan is croaking. And the Flex is not exactly flexing any serious sales muscle. And I included the Mazda CX 7 here to confuse you further because I forgot it with the CUVs. Rather than argue about it, let’s just come up with a new name for the whole category that included CUVs and MPVs. Chart follows: Read More >
The Lexus RX, the originator of the genre, held the lead in November sales. With the help of strong Venza sales, Toyota is the manufacturer leader of this category overall. The Chevy Traverse is the sales leader YTD. The category showed strength in November, as part of the overall shift back to larger vehicles after the crisis and C4C driven spurt of smaller cars in previous months. I have also included vehicles that are not typically considered CUVs, like the Grand Cherokee and the Explorer, because they certainly compete for sales in this category, in their current softy incarnations. Chart after the jump: Read More >
Honda’s CRV continues to lead the cute ute category. Combined sales of Subaru’s two variations on the theme (and the new taller Outback realistically is a CUV) would put it in striking distance of the number two spot. Hyundai’s just announced new Tucson may help it improve the sagging outgoing model’s sales. (Wobbly) chart follows: Read More >
NB: Our numbers are straight from the various companies’ media sites. There may be discrepancies between them and those from other sources, because some may be be NA (Canada too) and other US only.
We are currently researching purchasing an automotive sales analysis data base from a supplier. Our goal is to provide timely, accurate information and analysis. That has never been done before consistently at TTAC. Stay tuned for an announcement.
Toyota is also leading in the compact segment with it’s perennially popular Corolla. The Cobalt is shriveling away in its last year. The Caliber has imploded, rather spectacularly at that. And the new Kia Forte is off to a strong start. Chart follows: Read More >
NB: Our numbers are straight from the various companies’ media sites. There may be discrepancies between them and those from other sources, because some may be be NA (Canada too) and other US only.
We are currently researching purchasing an automotive sales analysis data base from a supplier. Our goal is to provide timely, accurate information and analysis. That has never been done before consistently at TTAC. Stay tuned for an announcement.
Let’s take a closer look at the top-selling mid size “Camcordia” class sedans for November and YTD (year to date). Keep in mind that one month does not paint much of a picture. A new incentive or a push in fleet sales can distort short term sale substantially. Speaking of fleet sales, some industry watchdogs have suggested that the Hyundai and Nissan upturns in November were well-fed by fleet sales. Read More >
GM’s sales fell by only two percent in November, showing that, unlike Chrysler, its sales are fairly well tied to the overall health of the market. All four of GM’s “core brands” posted month-on-month increases, with Buick up 14.8 percent, Cadillac up 10.3 percent, Chevrolet up 4.5 percent and GMC up 5.4 percent. Non-core brands including Hummer, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn combined for a 47.9 percent decline, to 11,755 units. Cars fell by 1.3 percent, while Trucks were down by 2.8 percent, leaving GM with total deliveries of 151,427 units.
Someone is happy with November. Nissan did some serious catching up in November after a generally difficult year. A gain of 21% leaves them with a YTD loss of 22%, almost exactly where Toyota and Honda are YTD. The question is, does Nissan have a new-found momentum to propell them ahead of the pack, or is it an aberration? There’s no question about Subaru’s tail wind this year; the all-AWD brand is heading for an all-time record year, on track to beating their previous record of 201k units sold in 2006. The (mostly) happy details: Read More >
The Hyundai sales juggernaut rolled on in November, posting the highest month-on-month gain of any brand with a 46 percent increase [release here]. Its sister brand Kia wasn’t far behind with a 21 percent sales gain over November 2008 [release here]. Year-to-date, the two brands have combined for 680,282 units, a mere 16,417 fewer than Nissan’s 2009 numbers.
Ford buyers’ shift to cars from trucks continued unabated in November. While the F-Series booked a 20% drop, reflecting a weak construction and discretionary truck market, passenger cars sales increased a tidy 14%. Net: Zero. The big winner at Ford is the Fusion, up 54%, and setting a new full year sales record. The details: Read More >
Initial indications of November’s sales numbers show an industry exhibiting some signs of leveling off after a solid year of steep declines. And when the rest of the industry is merely flat, Chrysler has to satisfy itself with slightly-less-dramatic-than-usual declines. Though Chrysler’s sales [full PDF release here] were “only” down 25 percent compared to November 2008, things were hardly going well a year ago. As a result, Chrysler sold an embarrassing 63,560 units total, ending the month with a 64-day supply of vehicles despite offering some of the industry’s most generous incentives. Forget the percentages, Chrysler’s niche-like volume is the killer here… and it’s relentlessly slipping away as the Pentastarred zombie crashes into oblivion.
Read More >
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