The Detroit News reports that Ford’s wind-down of its Mercury brand continues apace (i.e., very slowly). Now that the mothership has eliminated its standalone Mercury franchises, they’re using the same process of attrition to grandfather the brand’s models to death. As of Thursday, Ford will no longer build the Mercury Sable. I know, it’s a crime, right? “Ford only sold 1,158 Sables last month, down 37.8 percent compared to April 2007.” Yup, the Sable’s another D-platform loser. “That will leave Mercury with just four models,” the DetN writes, displaying an uncanny knack for numeracy, “including the Mountaineer and Grand Marquis, both of which are scheduled to be killed over the next couple of years. Mercury is supposed to get a new small car, but Ford has no other models planned for the brand at this time.” At this time? Brrrr. Will someone please close that door? Hang on; what’s this?

Read More >

Toyota’s third-generation Prius hybrid launches in Japan on Monday, with a European rollout scheduled for July, and already they firm has amassed 75k pre-orders worldwide. Of course, Toyota won’t confirm the number, which originated in a Nikkei report printed in Automotive News [sub]. Honda’s Insight has already become Japan’s top-selling car, the first hybrid to hold such a title. And all this despite oil and gas prices that are significantly weaker than a year ago. But, as GM is currently proving, pre-orders can sometimes be more trouble than they’re worth.

Read More >

The Wall Street Journal reports that (suprise!) transaction prices on new vehicles have fallen over the last six months. The average transaction price for a new vehicle is now $27,941. Why so slumptastic? With American consumers perceived to be in value shopping mode and the automobile industry in disarray, incentives are starting to pile up on new cars. And it’s not just OEMs offering factory cash. Dealer incentives are up as well. The WSJ cites TrueCar data showing that a full quarter of all 2009-model vehicles are being sold below dealer cost. And those aren’t all coming from troubled Chrysler dealers.

Read More >

Such as they are. Japanese sales are set to fall below 5 million in 2009 for the first time in nearly thirty years. But even with Japan’s sales slump particularly affecting standard-sized cars, Honda moved 10,481 units of its new hybrid on the Japanese market last month. That makes it the best selling car in Japan just as Toyota brings its third-generation Prius to market. A hybrid as the best selling car? Government subsidies sure help! And with consumers in Japan clearly value-shopping their hybrids (Honda’s Insight is several thousand dollars cheaper than Prius), is it any suprise that we’ve heard rumblings of a Yaris-based hybrid? Meanwhile, German cars top Japan’s import brand sales. VW, BMW and Mercedes took the top three spots but sold fewer cars combined than the Insight.

In a follow up to E. Niedermeyer’s previous post, details have emerged about the scheme to give rebates to buyers who trade “clunkers” for new, fuel-efficient vehicles. FT.com (Financial Times) reports that the program will cost taxpayers about $4 billion and will spur, according Brian Johnson, an analyst at Barclays Capital, the sale of 3 million units in the “near term” (whatever that means). With the US’ SAAR projected at approximately 9 million, this is a very optimistic prediction.

Read More >

Now available, courtesy of your $12 billion investment! And since you’re a (minority) shareholder now, why not check out Chrysler’s release yourself? They’ve got some beautiful style. Leading off with bullet points on Wrangler (+7 percent), Challenger (+11 percent over last month) and T&C (+6 percent retail over last month, actually -31 percent year-on-year) and, using different sales metrics for each, it really paints a rosy picture of our new investment. Thanks a lot, Chrysler! I’m sorry your sales were down 48 percent compared to April 2008. But those vario-stat bullet points wouldn’t cheer up a Tickle-Me Elmo. No wonder Tom LaSorda just “retired.”

Read More >

Say what? Hyundai/Kia had been hanging close to its 2008 sales numbers so far this year but even the Korean up-and-comers saw their sales drop by over ten points in April. Accent and Sonata were up marginally, but Elantra sales fell by nearly 50 percent. Genesis posted 2,076 sales in a month where luxury offerings fared poorly. Azera/Entourage were dead on their feet, selling fewer than 500 units between the two nameplates. Veracruz added about 200 sales compared to April 2008. On the Kia front, every nameplate lost sales compared to last April with the exceptions of the Amanti (up to a whopping 671 units), the new Borrego (498 units) and the Soul which sold well for one of its first full sales months at 3,228.

Honda moved 101,029 units last month as sales declined 25.3 percent compared to April 2008. Truck sales led declines, dropping 36.3 percent while car sales fell only 18.2 percent. Insight sales fell well short of Prius at 2,019 units, although Accord (-15.6 percent), Civic (-23.2 percent) and Fit (-30.3 percent) fared better by percentage than their Toyota competitors. Acura saw a 32.3 percent fall in sales, with the TSX (-6.6 percent) helping and the RL (-64 percent) and RDX (-55.7) hurting. Element and Ridgeline contributed the most to truck sales declines, logging 65.6 and 71.5 percent declines, respectively.

GM was able to move 173,007 units last month (press release here, sales chart in PDF format), up 11 percent from March but down 34 percent from last April. Cars fared worst in GM Land, falling 40 percent across all brands, while truck totals were down only 27 percent. Buick outsold Cadillac 8,928 to 8,337, but the defunctified Pontiac outsold both at 10,838. Watch for those numbers to tank next month, though, since the death was announced late enough in April to not affect prices overly. GM’s worst-performing cars were Buick LaCrosse (-62 percent), Caddy STS (-62.6 percent on 711 units sold), Aveo (-63 percent), G5 (-78 percent, 400 units), Cobalt (down by over 8,000 units), Solstice/Sky (barely cracking 500 sales between the two nameplates) and Aura (-66.6 percent). GM’s car high points were the Buick Lucerne (-20.8), Malibu (-14 percent, 14,665 units), Pontiac G8 (-5 percent, 2,013 units) and Astra, down only 9.6 percent (compared to consistently weak sales last year). Chevy’s HHR was up 7.5 percent (don’t ask why it’s categorized as a truck), Tahoe held even at just over 8,000 units and Suburban was down only 6.3 percent.

Toyota sales (press release via earthtimes.org) declined a whopping 42 percent from last April, as the big T recorded only 126,540 unit sales last month. And the bleeding comes from all over the lineup. From bread-and-butter Camry and Corolla (down 36.7 and 42.9 percent, respectively) to the entire Lexus line (LS down 61.6 percent, GS down 70.2 and IS down 48 percent) and from trucks (Tundra down 54 percent)  and SUVs (4Runner down 69.3 percent) to compacts (Scion xD sold only 880 units) it’s ugly all over. Toyota sold more Priora (8,385) than Yaris (8,118) while the RAV4 (11,126) sold better than Venza (3,793) and Highlander (5,595) put together. Other than RAV4, the only bright-ish point in an otherwise forgettable month was RX which sold 6,237 units (including hybrids) and was reportedly the top selling luxury vehicle in America last month. Total hybrid sales hit 12,223.

Ford’s sold 129,898 vehicles last month (PDF) as overall sales declined by 31 percent compared to last April. Retail market share did increase, however, as Ford likely gouged its bailout-burdened Detroit colleagues. The big news though? Mercury outsold Lincoln! Which is more an indicator of Lincoln’s sorry situation (5,973 total sales) than Mercury’s success (7,662). But then even Volvo (4,503) makes Lincoln look good.

Read More >

There were plenty of entertaining moments on last night’s Autoline After Hours. Fortress Detroit’s ugly bunker mentality proved at every turn what people (specifically, former GM consultants) mean when they accuse the American auto industry of problems of culture (with footnotes!). But TTAC is here to help. And our first suggestion to those feeling threatened by the collapse of their comfortable, familiar world is to read more. Seriously. “You don’t think Toyota makes any money on their hybrids do you?” asked one torpid apologist. Unless the Nikkei (via Green Car Congress) is part of the dreaded “we hate Detroit” conspiracy, it turns out that Toyota does make money on their hybrids.

Read More >

The question of a sales recovery looms large in discussions of GM and Chrysler’s road to viability. In particular, GM has been accused of overestimating demand recovery, as its successive viability plans have consistently revised demand assumptions downwards. But a survey and followup by RL Polk (full report in PDF) suggests that not only are a significant number of American consumers considering vehicle purchases, but many would buy American to “support the economy.” In all of the surveyed regions at least 50 percent of vehicle owners aged 18-64 said they planned a vehicle purchase in the next two years. Good news for Detroit? Polk’s breathless press release for updated regional data sure makes it sound like it. “In fact, more than a quarter of consumers we talked to as of the end of March plan to buy a new car or truck within the next year, even better news for automakers struggling to move excess inventory from dealer showrooms,” says Polk’s Lonnie Miller. But a closer look at the original survey shows that it’s too early to start counting chickens.

Read More >

At this morning’s press conference, GM CEO Fritz Henderson couched his decision to “choose” viability over jobs in terms of lowering GM’s break-even point. Like job cuts, UAW concessions and nearly every other recent viability-oriented reform goal, GM’s break-even point predictions have been consistently more optimistic than leading reality-based indicators. With every new viability scheme, GM’s assumptions about the demand for US-market new cars in 2009 have been revised downward. According to the NY Times, even though this is viability plan V3, GM may still have some reality embracing to do.

Read More >

Read More >