Americans in a rush to crush

American Ford, Toyota and Honda dealers all reported sharply higher sales in August as the popular US Government "Cash for clunkers" promotion brought customers streaming into showrooms.

Ford reported a 17.2 per cent increase in August sales compared to a year ago, the second month in a row Ford has reported higher sales.

Honda sold 161,439 vehicles in August, up 9.9 per cent compared with a year ago. The clunkers program has pushed buyers towards fuel-efficient vehicles, which helped Honda sell Civics and Fits.

Toyota sold 225,088 vehicles in August, up 6.4 per cent over August 2008. It was Toyota’s best sales month since May 2008.

But Chrysler’s August sales fell 15.4 per cent compared with a year earlier to 93,222 vehicles despite the cash for clunkers program.

General Motors sold 245,066 cars and light trucks last month, down 2.01 per cent from a year ago.

Despite the fall, GM executives described August as an "excellent" month, saying the company maintained its share of the U.S. domestic market. Comparisons with August 2008 weren't realistic, as a special pricing promotion was tied to the company's 100th anniversary last year. Although its bread-and-butter brand, Chevrolet, lost sales in August, the bow-tie brand will be happy with the news that its Camaro has outsold archrival, Ford Mustang, for the third month in a row.

Ford said sales of its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands were up an even better 21 per cent when sales to rental car companies and corporate fleets are excluded. In all, Ford sold 176,000 vehicles last month.

Sales of Ford Ranger and F-150 pickup trucks increased 57 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively. Ute sales are a good sign for the construction industry because many of them are bought by tradies.

Volkswagen credited the cash for clunkers program with boosting its August sales by 11.4 per cent compared to a year ago, giving the company its best sales month in the U.S. since December 2005.

Hyundai sold 60,467 vehicles in August in the U.S., up 47 per cent compared with a year ago. Subaru was another company that enjoyed enormous growth over the year before, citing a 51.5 per cent increase in sales, year-on-year for August, but by far the best result for the month went to Kia, with a 60.4 per cent improvement.

Volvo, after miserable sales in the early part of the year, has now secured its third consecutive month of sales growth, posting a result of 24.8 per cent during August -- narrowly behind Audi on 25.8 per cent.

The clunkers program, which lasted a month from July 24 was intended to reward consumers for trading in older cars and trucks for more fuel-efficient new vehicles. Buyers received taxpayer-funded rebates of US $3,500 or $4,500, depending on the gain in fuel economy.

The program was an unexpected hit with consumers, who responded with such enthusiasm that the government nearly burned through the program's initial $1 billion in the first week. An extra $2 billion kept the program going for another two weeks.

In all, dealers submitted 690,000 clunker claims to the US government, seeking rebates of $2.88 billion.

GM initially grabbed the biggest share of clunker sales, but Toyota, with Corolla and Prius topped the program with 19.4 per cent share. GM was second with 17.6 per cent.

Overall, traditional American car brands accounted for 38.6 per cent of clunker sales, well below the 43.6 per cent share of the U.S. market they held during the first half of 2009.

The problem now facing car-makers – and their hard-pressed dealers -- is how much sales momentum will carry on into the northern Autumn -- and how much has already expired with the Cash for clunkers program.

Based on some of the brands that continued to lose ground during August (Jeep, Benz, Chevrolet, Dodge, Lexus, BMW and Mitsubishi -- to name a few), the American market may not be out of the woods yet.

Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at www.carsales.mobi