July New Car Sales: Tepid Growth While Some Cars Get Scarce

Despite solid gains at most brands, losses at tsunami-afflicted Honda and Toyota were sever enough to reduced the July bottom line of U.S. auto sales to a tepid 1 percent gain. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate (SAAR) for July stands at 12.24 million units. The pent-up demand is still in hiding, but automaker have not given up the hope for its return:

“There are people who put off vehicle purchases because of uncertainty about fuel prices, vehicle availability and the economy,” said Don Johnson, head of U.S. sales for GM, told Automotive News [sub]. “As these conditions improve in the latter half of this year, many of these buyers will return to the market.”

Others take a more cautious stance.

“The auto industry is having a difficult time shaking off adversity,” Jeff Schuster, executive director of global forecasting at J.D. Power and Associates, said.

“The recovery is clearly in a stall mode,” Paul Ballew, the chief economist at Nationwide Insurance and a former sales analyst at GM, told The New York Times. “It’s hard to see sales sprinting forward without some help on job and income growth.”

Some carmakers have a different problem. According to The New York Times, the fuel efficient Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cruze, have become scarce. “We’re shipping everything we can to meet consumer demand,” said Ken Czubay, Ford’s vice president for United States marketing, sales and service. “But consumers are telling us they want two more than we can produce. We’re running flat out.”

U.S. New Car Sales, July 2011

AutomakerJulyJulyPct.7 month7 monthPct.20112010chng.20112010chng.BMW Group26,16423,43312%169,949145,27217%BMW division21,40919,06412%135,114119,69613%Mini4,7114,3269%34,52725,27937%Rolls-Royce44432%3082974%Chrysler Group LLC112,02693,31320%751,958620,53221%Chrysler Division15,42714,6925%111,495122,818–9%Dodge33,65330,9169%263,551231,38314%Dodge/Ram54,87052,1555%404,866344,47718%Fiat3,038––%7,982––%Jeep38,69126,46646%227,615153,23749%Ram21,21721,2390%141,315113,09425%Daimler AG21,06918,61413%141,674128,96910%Maybach45–20%3238–16%Mercedes-Benz20,73818,04915%138,759125,02211%Smart USA327560–42%2,8833,909–26%Ford Motor Co.180,315170,2086%1,250,0511,151,5609%Ford division172,501153,40013%1,199,9861,011,85419%Ford/Lincoln/Mercury180,315165,8899%1,250,0511,119,03512%Lincoln7,8145,58640%49,81749,3481%Mercury–6,903–100%24857,833–100%Volvo–4,319–100%–32,525–100%General Motors214,915199,6028%1,476,5251,277,20316%Buick16,87316,7990%110,47286,83127%Cadillac11,11914,919–26%87,24179,70410%Chevrolet149,005139,8587%1,053,543920,86414%GMC37,91827,76637%225,269178,60026%Hummer–210–100%–3,139–100%Pontiac–20–100%–947–100%Saab–––%–608–100%Saturn–30–100%–6,510–100%Honda80,502112,437–28%687,944706,346–3%Acura9,40213,017–28%70,08274,134–6%Honda Division71,10099,420–29%617,862632,212–2%Hyundai Group105,06589,52517%672,966515,37631%Hyundai division59,56154,10610%382,358309,88823%Kia45,50435,41929%290,608205,48841%Jaguar Land Rover3,7953,8080%27,49724,62312%Jaguar9841,516–35%7,3947,3670%Land Rover2,8112,29223%20,10317,25617%Maserati19915628%1,2961,06821%Mazda20,78320,7320%143,162136,4515%Mitsubishi7,9725,64841%52,08732,13862%Nissan84,60182,3373%589,574522,66913%Infiniti7,4109,764–24%54,67857,064–4%Nissan Division77,19172,5736%534,896465,60515%Porsche2,7682,7032%18,31013,68734%Saab Cars384471–19%3,8551,209219%Subaru21,73023,983–9%153,779149,9433%Suzuki2,4471,95225%15,84913,50117%Toyota130,802169,224–23%943,5901,015,766–7%Lexus14,53918,595–22%102,549126,025–19%Scion3,4994,653–25%30,12025,66017%Toyota division112,764145,976–23%810,921864,081–6%Toyota/Scion116,263150,629–23%841,041889,741–6%Volkswagen38,35431,75321%249,231206,89321%Audi9,1467,81717%65,05556,25716%Bentley14256154%98574432%VW division29,06623,88022%183,191149,89222%Volvo Cars5,595––%41,898––%Other (estimate)2442411%1,7081,6861%TOTAL1,059,7301,050,1401%7,392,9036,664,89211%

Data courtesy Automotive News [sub]