15 years ago, these six cars were Nissan. Sure, they sold a few Zs back in ’95 (4,176, actually), and the 240SX was in its last year of five-digit sales, but the Altima, Maxima, Sentra, Frontier, Quest and Pathfinder were the bread and butter. Needless to say, things change over 15 years, and though Nissan still sells all of these vehicles (excepting the Quest’s 2010 model-year hiatus), they’re no longer the reliable core they once were. Yes, the Altima sells like hotcakes, but Nissan’s other core nameplates are on steady steady glidepaths downwards, and the brand’s volume is largely being maintained by the introduction of new models. And as is so often the case in business, this shift away from core strengths is being rewarded by some thorough housecleaning. Having spent quite a bit of today talking with Nissan consultant Sharyn Bovat, yesterday’s rhetorical question What The Foxtrot Is Going On At Nissanis starting to come into sharper focus. Expect full reporting shortly, but in the mean time know this: things are changing at Nissan. My question now: does this chart help explain why?
What’s that? We still haven’t plumbed the depths of our bag-o-automotive-sales-data thoroughly enough to have published annual sales for the Toyota Prius? Well, here it is, my truth-starved friends: ten years of Prius sales, culminating in two consecutive years of falling sales. And granted, most nameplates are down over the last two years because the market has been down for a solid two years now. Also, if you think the downturn is due to gas prices, you’ve got a surprise waiting for you after the jump. So has the Prius lost its luster? Could the most culturally significant passenger car of the last ten years be running out of steam (or whatever it runs on), or is this just a natural drop in demand in line with a weak market?
If you are hoping that the Chinese bubble will burst in no time, putting China back on bicycles, then this story is not for you. If you are worried about little people in Asia using up all the precious hydrocarbons we use for our bigger cars, then we must warn you that reading further could be hazardous to your circulatory system. You have been warned. (Read More…)
The ACEA has released their European new car statistics for the month of June. One look at the picture tells you what is happening: With the cash for clunkers effects slowly working their way out of the system, Europe is settling into a new normal. In June, the market was down 6.9 percent, but for the first six months, with 7,285,487 new cars registered, the market in the EU27 is pretty much what it was in the same period last year. Compared with the first six months of 2008, the market decreased by 10.3 percent, but those were the good old pre-carmageddon days. (Read More…)
Bloomberg reports that GM has already pulled off one of the ballsiest IPO moves ever, by asking banks bidding to underwrite its IPO to use fees to subsidize the purchase of GM vehicles by its employees. According to the report, a GM document sent to bidding banks solicited
ideas as to how we can use the IPO to reposition GM and its vehicles within the investment community including your firm’s willingness to reinvest any portion of any underwriting fees into the purchase of GM vehicles for your employees and/or company use.
Edmunds has released its “true cost of incentive” index for June [via BusinessWire], and once again, GM took the top spot, followed by Chrysler and Ford. Detroit accounted for 61.3 percent of all incentive spending last month, with Trucks and Premium Sportscars attracting the highest incentives.Says Edmunds’ Michelle Krebs:
Last June incentives were sky-high, but sales were depressed, as buyers waited for details on the Cash for Clunkers program. If the industry was truly recovering, we would be blowing last June’s car sales numbers out of the water
Third quarter North American auto production is headed for the 11.8m mark, even as analysts at IHS Automotive revise their sales projections downwards to 11.5m, once again raising the specter of oversupply which haunted Detroit for much of the last decade. GM, which is forgoing a Summer plant shutdown this year, is expected to increase its Q3 production by 32 percent over last year, as its market estimate ranges from 11.5 to 12m units according to Automotive News [sub]. Though that’s on the high end compared to the IHS number, and though GM’s market share has been anything but stable, the firm is keeping a steady hand on the tiller to maintain a sense of normalcy headed into its forthcoming IPO. And with inventories in far better shape than they’ve been in years, automakers reckon they can always get rid of extra cars when the market rebounds next year. In the meantime, however, the risks of overproduction are very real.
The best-selling nameplates in America may still be pickup trucks, but for the first time in nearly a decade, cars and car-based crossovers are outselling the body-on-frame competition. The shift occurred in the second half of 2007, as gas prices built to their Summer 2008 peak, and despite more reasonable energy prices, consumers do not appear to be going back to large trucks and SUVs en masse. And, as Automotive News [sub] reports, the downsizing of America’s buying tastes is doing more than just putting a fork in the SUV fad.
The monthly Chinese car sales number confusion is finally over. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers CAAM has spoken their official word on June 2010 motor vehicles sales in the Middle Kingdom. We nearly lost confidence, but again, our patent pending sales oracle has been proven right. A week ago, our oracle said “that the Chinese market will come in at a growth in the low 20 percentile range.“ And what says CAAM? (Read More…)
Kia’s Soul didn’t have the most electrifying launch sales-wise, but with the release of its second buzz-worthy ad, the funky little box is becoming a major player in our A/B/Small Hatch segment. The Nissan Versa is clearly the dominant player here, selling nearly twice as well as the Soul. Meanwhile, there’s a tight pack of offerings that have moved at least 20k units this year, that ranges from the aged HHR to the MINI Cooper. Look for a big shake-up in this segment once Ford’s Fiesta production hits high gear.
Tempora mutantur, or in Boy Dylan’s words, the times they are a-changin’. Last year, luxury cars were pretty much unsalable. This year, they are the hottest commodity. Especially in Germany. Which isn’t doing so well generally. Germany’s car companies on the other hand are working at warp speed. Daimler already had announced their best June ever. What about BMW and Audi? They are doing great. Danke, Euro. Xie xie, China. (Read More…)
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