You gotta love Chrysler. But not me. How in the world can they claim a right to MY tax money when they can’t even acknowledge their sales debacle on their own website? In fact, ChryCo’s sales dropped from last November’s 161,088 units to this year’s 85,260 units. Instead of admitting they’re up excrement creek without a paddle, today’s ChyrCo posting is “Why America Should Care About the U.S. Auto Industry.” How about this: why should we bail out Chrysler when its owned by a private equity group with deep pockets?
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Category: Sales
It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to hear that sales of nearly every Honda and Acura model were down in November, but just try guessing the one vehicle that actually increased sales. It’s not the brand-spankety new version of the once-hot Fit, which is down by 8.4 percent. Perennial best sellers Accord and Civic were also down 38.1 and 29.6 percent respectively. Nor did a single Acura crack into positive territory compared to last November, with the RL losing 40.3 percent, the TL dropping 22.2 percent and the all-new TSX down 9.1 percent. No, the only Honda/Acura vehicle that was up in November was the Pilot SUV, which was up 4.5 percent versus last November’s sales. Perhaps the biggest surprise isn’t that Honda’s best seller is an SUV, it’s that the Civic Hybrid is down 67.8 percent. The learning just never ends in this industry.
Street Insider reports that General Motors delivered 154,877 vehicles in November, down 41 percent compared with a year ago. That makes for some of the worst sales numbers in the US, leaving GM PR with nothing to get traction on despite aggressive Red Toe Tag Sale incentives which will continue through January 5. “In November we saw the continuation of the dramatic decline in volume for the industry. Every manufacturer is posting awful numbers and we are no exception,” says GM’s Mark LaNeve in what may be one of the biggest understatements we’ve heard in weeks. GM’s car sales were down 41 percent compared to last November, while trucks were down 44 percent. The only GM vehicle with positive sales growth compared to last November is the much-touted Malibu, which is up 31 percent. Ok, that’s not strictly true. The GMC C/T Series is up 64 percent, at 82 units compared to 50 last November. Needless to say these exceptions won’t save GM from the bleeding across every other model and brand. And, as our Ken Elias points out, the 862,000 models currently sitting on GM lots is “way out of whack relative to trailing sales.” Not good. Read More >
Ford, Lincoln and Mercury dealers reported total sales of 118,818 units this November, down 30 percent compared to a year ago. Ford’s spin on the news is that “estimated industry-wide sales” were down 35 percent, meaning Ford actually gained market share. But let’s look at the reality. The Ford nameplate is down 18.5 percent, with only the Fusion and Focus (+.9 percent, and +15.7 percent respectively) increasing sales compared to a year ago. Even the all-new F150 is down 25.4 percent. Lincoln is down 19.1 percent, and Mercury is down 28.5 percent, as neither brand has a single model that sold better than November of last year. Volvo is down 29.7 percent, with only the C70 enjoying a bump in sales compared to a year ago (+27 percent). Looking at the raw numbers, it’s hard to get too down on Ford’s PR flacks for trying to find something positive in this mess.
Toyota PR has signed in, reporting that their “Saved by Zero” marketing campaign ain’t saving much. This November, the Japanese automaker’s overall U.S. sales dropped 33.9 percent, from 197,189 to 130,307. Of course, it would have been worse without the zero percent finance deals, which is one scary ass thought. And speaking of frightening, Scion is dead in the water, from xB (-43.8 percent) to tC (-55.1 percent) to xD (-27.5 percent). Still, small dog, small problem. Big dog (Tundra), big problem (-55.9 percent). And that’s nothing as compared to Toyota’s volume sellers, sales of which fell off a cliff. We’re talking Corolla (-12.8 percent) and Camry (-28.2). And for all Congress’ hybrid love, as TTAC predicted (thanks to our tipsters) Prius mania has screeched to a halt. Sales of the gas – electric hybrid fell from last November’s 16,737 to this Turkey month’s 8,660. That’s a 48.3 percent drop. Except for the new LX (up 497.2 percent to 424 vehicles), ToMoCo’s luxury division lost ground across the board, to the tune of -34.7 percent. Clearly, it’s going to be a long, cold winter for everyone in this biz.
As gas is down, the behemoths roar back.
This is what passes for good news these days, so pass the turkey and keep smiling. Edmunds (via Dow Jones Newswires) estimates that the American new car market is down 28 percent in November, but up 1.9 percent from October. “Sales improved slightly over October thanks to near record high incentives and perhaps a sense of relief that the presidential election is over,” said Edmunds’ executive director of industry analysis, Jesse Toprak. Many analysts had forseen a bloodbath in November, after a disastrous October. In November’s 25 selling days, Chrysler LLC’s sales are seen dropping 42%, with Ford posting a 33% slide and GM reporting a 28% skid. And it’s not just Detroit firms losing ground. Toyota sales are expected to drop 24%, with Honda sales down 21% and Nissan sliding 29% on the month. Detroit’s market share is estimated to be 47% in November, down from 51% a year earlier and flat from October. These numbers could easily have been much, much worse given the record low consumer confidence. But is cheap gas helping, and if so, how long will it last? Stay tuned, as we get official numbers out at the end of the month.
With things, erm, being as they are right now (economy in the toilet, SUVs being hugely unpopular, nobody buying cars, GM on the verge of evaporating and floating to China), Hummers are about as desirable as herpes. Although the Red Tag sale price of the H3 5-cylinder is floating around $26,000, there’s still a sub-basement. Some highlights from around the sales (or no sales) on FleaBay, Swapalease, and AutoTrader:
—2009 Hummer H3 – $22,985.00 – 13 miles – Optimistically want a 100% cash payment. eBay Motors
–2008 Hummer H3 Alpha – V8 engine – $34,900 – 1854 miles – Oh come on. eBay Motors
–2008 Hummer H3 – $322/month – 4000 miles so far, 30 months remaining, 28500 miles remaining. Swapalease
–2008 Hummer H3 – $18,717 – 15,048 miles – Listed as new – might never have been titled. Autotrader
–2008 Hummer H3 – $22,291 – 4143 miles – stick shift is actually marginally cool. Autotrader
–2009 Hummer H3 – $21,995 – Brand new – classic “one at this price.” Team Chevrolet Hummer, Pasadena
According to the AP, “Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday that for now it is sticking with plans to open its new Mississippi plant in 2010 despite media reports that Japan’s top automaker is mulling a delay.” Mississippi was originally supposed to get Highlander production.. Those plans ran aground on $4 a gallon gas. In a fit of hybrid mania, Toyota Mississippi jumped off the Highlander horse and onto the Prius this past July… just in time to see crude oil prices peak and roll over. Remember all that talk of building a Scion-like separate Prius brand? You have to think that plan is on hold. “Earlier this month, Toyota said its net profit for the July-September quarter plunged 69 percent. The car maker also downgraded its full-year profit forecast to 550 billion yen ($5.5 billion) — about a third of last year’s result. Executive Vice President Mitsuo Kinoshita said after the earnings release that the company had convened an ‘Emergency Profit Improvement Committee’ to cut costs and maximize revenues. Toyota is also assessing its manufacturing operations by ‘re-examining aspects such as the timing and scale of new projects.'”
Can you believe that GM used to claim that their foreign ops would prop-up the sinking North American market while they got their shit together? I mean, these are the same guys that were busy touting the advantages of a world car. Anyone who doubted that it’s a small world after all should have a gander at October sales stats across the pond [via Bloomberg UK]. “Registrations dropped to 1.13 million vehicles last month from 1.33 million a year earlier, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said today in a statement. Sales for the first 10 months fell 5.4 percent to 12.8 million vehicles, accelerating from a 4.4 percent contraction through September.” And who got whacked the hardest? “GM’s sales in Europe fell 25 percent to 94,479 vehicles, with the Saab brand reporting a 28 percent plunge… Registrations in Europe by Toyota slumped 24 percent to 54,612 cars. Asia’s largest carmaker, leading GM in global auto sales this year, posted a 69 percent plunge in quarterly net income on Nov. 6. Deliveries of its Lexus brand fell 32 percent.” So, that’s the mass market, then. How about the top end?
The auto industry and auto exports have top billing in China’s current 5 Year Plan. (Yes, for sentimental reasons, they still have one of those.) Yet when it comes to the car export part, China is still light-years away from fulfilling their master plan. The Vice Director General of the Department of Mechanic, Electronic and Hi-Tech Industry, Ministry of Commerce, made the startling admission. “China’s auto exports are still in the early stage, leaving a large gap in global exports,” Zhou Shijie told Xinhua. Translation: China’s auto exports are in the doghouse of the export powerhouse. “It is difficult for export companies to master the vehicle entry policy in foreign countries.” Translation: Our cars failed miserably in crash tests, we have trouble with pesky U.S. FMVSS and European ECE regulations, which we can barely comprehend (let alone satisfy). We’re fed up and we’re not gonna take it. No, we’re not gonna take it. Uh-oh.
China’s closely-watched auto sales stats are in. During the first month after the start of the worldwide auto industry meltdown, the first month after China awoke from the self-inflicted paralysis (a.k.a. the Olympics), sales are growing, but slowing. Compared to last year, China’s vehicle output and sales both grew 11 percent from January through October. October sales accounted for 715,700 units, up 3.37 percent year-on-year. Other countries would party after having received these numbers. In China, they come as a shock. According to China Associations of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) [via Gasgoo], China produced 8.02 million motor vehicles– and sold 7.94 million from January to October. Oops.
First, Volkswagen, bucking a worldwide trend of global bad, refused to change their bullish guidance for the rest of the year. Now, VeeDub’s luxury segment sibling Audi likewise sticks to its guns. According to Bloomberg, VW’s folks from Ingolstadt are dead-set at selling a million A-lettered cars this year. Grounds for their optimism? Audi sold 82,400 units worldwide in October, up a whopping 7.2 percent. Ten-month sales rose 3.3 percent to 844,700 vehicles so far for 2008. Results which makes Audi an endangered species, worthy of being protected better than the spotted owl. Recession? I ze nozzink! Official reasons cited for Audi’s meteoric ascend are as follows: the usual growth in China, of course. But also, trememediosissme sales in-– would you believe it-– bella Italia.
AutoNation’s third quarter 2008 financial release is more grim news. The US’ largest automotive retailer reported “a 2008 third quarter net loss from continuing operations of $1.40 billion or $7.95 per share.” Total sales revenue was down 22%, driven by a new vehicle unit sales decline of 24%. Overall industry unit sales for the period were down 31%, a set of numbers consistent with the observation that smaller dealerships are going belly up. As one of the big boys, AutoNation is doing a little better than the averages. We know that the small, and some not so small (Bill Heard, groan) dealerships are dropping like proverbial flies. AutoNation’s press release provides commendable detail on the domestic brand, import brand and premium luxury business segments. No real surprises there. Domestic brands got whacked with a 57% revenue decline while import brands and “premium luxury” both dropped 23%. The usual suspects of tight credit markets, high fuel costs and scarred silly non-buyers are duly noted. Operations wise, AutoNation squeezed out a $159 million profit for the quarter compared to $226 million in 2007’s equivalent period, a 29% drop off largely inline with the revenue hit. Why then the huge reported loss?: Value of the company’s domestic branded franchises. These dealerships were bought from small groups and owner-operators over the years. When purchased, the amount of the purchase price in excess of the real estate, inventory and any other hard assets of the business was booked as “goodwill and/or franchise” value. Today market value for a domestic branded car dealership is zero, so AutoNation had to write off $1.46 billion in recognition of the new reality. If and when those values ever go back up, AutoNation will be able to book an upside … but let’s not hold our breath.
Memo to Ford: recall your Taiwanese head honcho and put him in charge of Detroit’s pimp-machine. Jeffery Nemeth, Prez. Of Ford Taiwan, a.k.a. Lio Ho Motor Co., found an ingenious rationale for sagging sales: too many people are leaving the country. The Taipei Times reports that Nemetz is pissed that 1.3m Taiwanese have moved to mainland China; it’s getting worse, it’s bad for auto sales, and it’s gotta stop. His warnings come on the heels of the latest government statistics that counted a paltry 17,324 units being sold last month- – the crappiest October level in 20 years. If this trend continues, two million Taiwanese move to China next year, it could cost Taiwan 150k units, Nemetz predicted. Judging from October’s insipid new car sales rates, fleeing Taiwanese could wipe out the island’s entire car market. Of course, it’s pure coincidence that there are rumors of yet another prospective emigrant: Ford itself. Nemetz immediately denied that his company would forego Formosa. “Ford does not plan to leave or end our operations in Taiwan.” Likewise not true: industry-protective measures of Taiwan’s government might cancel all citizens’ passports to prevent an extenuation of the exodus. Dear DHS: Please, don’t get any ideas, ok?
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