Sales slide in America

The end of the financial year doesn't necessarily mean an end for dismal sales in the US market. June was a horror month for companies selling cars in the USA, but whilst the loss of retail confidence has been conspicuous for the month, it's not likely the final chapter.

Different American media outlets report seeing a downturn on a massive scale last month. Even taking into account, as automotive website Autoblog.com did, that there were three fewer selling days in the US last month, the sales also fell a long way short of the daily sales rate for June 2007, in many cases.

A minority of companies reported gains in June and, with the exception of Honda and Mazda, they were all full-line importers. Even Honda's prestige brand, Acura, was 16.4 per cent down for the entire month.

Ford's sales are 20 per cent lower than they were in the June 2007, but June '08 was the first month the Blue Oval's figures didn't include sales of Jaguar and Land Rover, the company having just sold those two marques to Tata (more here). It remains unlikely though that the circa 60,000-unit difference, year-on-year, can all be attributed to three fewer selling days and no numbers from Jaguar/Land Rover.

Given the lower number of selling days for the month, any sales figure better than 10 per cent below zero is not a bad effort. Most GM brands performed well in this scenario. According to Autoblog, Saturn was almost at 'break even', with a 1.9 per cent drop, Chevrolet sold 3.5 per cent fewer cars than in June '07 and Cadillac was down 3.1 per cent -- but GM has reason to be concerned by the performance of Buick (-34.4 per cent) and particularly Hummer (-54.2 per cent).

Chrysler as a brand was 36 per cent down on sales, year on year. Dodge posted a 21.3 per cent reduction and Jeep 32.8 per cent. A couple of Chrysler Group products performed better, year on year, but Chrysler is experiencing difficulty selling into the market, despite the innovative marketing tactic of offering buyers a deal whereby new owners can purchase fuel at US$2.99 a gallon.

Automotive News reports that Toyota saw sales slide dramatically during June, with a reduction of 11.5 per cent. The American publication reports that Toyota's hit in June marks the company's largest fall for the year to date. And it's not just a case of a one-month aberration either. Sales for the first six month of this year are 6.2 per cent lower than Toyota's sales for the first six months of 2007. Curiously, sales of the car that should be Toyota's saviour in the current economic situation, the hybrid Prius, were 25 per cent lower in June, as a consequence of supply problems, according to Automotive News.

Plainly not hamstrung by supply issues, Honda's sales gained 13.8 per cent on June 2007 and the June '08 total was a new monthly record, writes Automotive News.

Honda was one of a small number of companies weathering the financial storm well, if the June sales figures are any indication. MINI sales rose a staggering 40.5 per cent, year on year, undoubtedly reflecting the current preference for economical cars with a bit of style about them. Audi was up 18.5 per cent, Hyundai 14 per cent, Kia 21 per cent, Mazda 3.8, Subaru 18.4 and Volkswagen 12.8.

On the local front, VFACTS sales figures are due to be released tomorrow. We'll have more information then.

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