July Sales: GM's Fleet Sinks, Toyota Victorious

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: August 1st, 2012

july sales gm s fleet sinks toyota victorious

U.S. domestic sales of GM are down 6.4 percent, while sales of bitter rival Toyota are up 26.1 percent. Or more, depending on how you look at it.

Toyota Motor Sales reported monthly sales of 164,898 units in July 2012, up 36.6 percent on a daily selling rate (DSR) basis and 26.1 percent on an unadjusted raw volume basis. Complete Toyota July sales chart here.

GM blames the disappointing results on diving fleet sales. Sales to rental fleet customers declined 41 percent. Fleet sales had been up 36 percent in June, which caused observers to suspect that fleet sales had been artificially shifted to June to “make” a good last month of the quarter. Now comes the price for goosing the numbers. Sales to GM’s retail customers declined 3 percent.

July Total SalesTotal Change vs. July 2011July Retail SalesRetail Change vs. July 2011CYTD SalesCYTD Change vs. 2011CYTD Retail SalesCYTD Retail Change vs. 2011Chevrolet138,942(6.8%)99,690(5.4%)1,100,6044.5%738,5053.0%GMC34,487(9.0%)27,560(5.6%)235,5284.5%194,3311.6%Buick14,391(14.7%)14,2742.0%104,589(5.3%)92,7431.5%Cadillac13,41720.7%11,99520.3%76,229(12.6%)72,077(4.7%)Total GM201,237(6.4%)153,519(3.2%)1,516,9502.7%1,097,6562.1%

Throughout the day, TTAC will keep an eye on July sales.

#AmericaInJuly2012 #BertelSchmitt #JulySales

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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7 of 44 comments

Raded on Aug 01, 2012

GM's current brand lineup is just confusing. I imagine Buick and Cadillac would be doing better if their former segment of retirees knew what they were buying. Seeing someone race a Cadillac around Monaco probably scares away more potential buyers than it attracts. Same with putting Shaq in a Buick. Make one sporty-luxury and one comfy-luxury and stick with it. Chevy's strategy of mixing Corvettes and Daewoos seems to be working. Use the Corvette and Camaro to keep the brand entertaining then shove people into Korean compacts when they come into the dealership.

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Juniper on Aug 01, 2012

Where is the Toyota data chart??

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RobertRyan on Aug 01, 2012

"Some forecasters I read think another bailout for GM is coming, unless some drastic changes are made. I, too, believe that GM needs to sell more product because even now what they sell is just not enough. It’s eerily similar to what happened prior to the bankruptcy; all those sales, and still not enough money to go around." GM has pulled out of the: Heavy Truck, MDT,Light Truck, Sports cars(Corvette is a NA phenomenon)SUVs(except a small CUV)globally. Their midsize Pickup sells very poorly indeed globally. They have problems.

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- Highdesertcat on Aug 01, 2012
  
  "They have problems." They do, and some GM fan boys seem stuck with their heads in the sand. And then an article like this comes along and highlights that the strategy employed since 2009 is falling short of the desired outcome, which is to sell more cars at a higher profit. You can't do that with fleet sales - there's hardly any money in it to speak of. Global issues in GM's sphere of influence take a toll all their own, and further distract potential buyers from choosing GM products. At one time GM's competition was putting out better product, but that may no longer be so in all cases and classes, like the Cruze/Verano, Sonic and Equinox/Terrain. Those are more up-to-date than the Corolla, Civic and Yaris. Yeah, GM sells a lot of product, but can GM survive the next five years without further financial assistance and incentives from governments? I'm not holding my breath. I still remember 2007 and 2008, and then the collapse in 2009. I have said it before that I would like to see GM succeed like Chrysler has succeeded, so that we, the people, can see that bailout 'investment' repaid. At the rate they're going, I don't think that's going to happen. But no one has satisfactorily explained why people will suck up foreign-brand program cars, while GM's fleet cars languish on the used-car lots.
  
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- Jandrews on Aug 02, 2012
  
  @highdesertcat I think the main reason people will "suck up foreign-brand program cars" is because of the enthusiast vs. layman disconnect. Most people WANT an appliance vehicle. They want something that does the job of transport reliably. They don't care about comfort, road noise, "infotainment", or whether or not the interior is soft touch. They want reliability and low cost of ownership. Now, that explains why people keep buying Civollas and Camcords in droves. What I can never figure out is how Volkswagen keeps selling so well, given their middling reliability record, high cost of repairs, and the difficult nature of servicing them. Is the faux-nouveau-riche fashion of a German marque, any German marque, really that much of an allure? While we're on the subject, Ford and Chrysler, for their parts, seem to be making steps in the right direction. Their bottom lines seem to bear this out as well. Ford, especially, is doing a good job of producing impressive products, albeit maybe not the best sellers. Their "base market premium" strategy seems to put them at least into profitability at their (relatively) low market share.
  
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- Highdesertcat on Aug 02, 2012
  
  @highdesertcat Ford and Chrysler really are doing well in the market where they really need to make it, the North American market. Ford's innovation and execution is paying dividends across their product line, especially in the money makers like the F150, but to some extent also in the youth market, although I don't see too many people "drifting" in Ford products. Their best-selling F150 has hooked into the market that matters; those individuals who want to drive a full-size pickup truck because it is the "can-do anything, anytime, vehicle for the family", but don't want to lay awake nights worrying about what their next tankful of gas is going to cost. Two different V6s and competent V8s should accommodate just about all comers. Chrysler has got to be the wunderkind of this decade. The influence exerted by Daimler is paying off handsomely for Fiat and more people are willing to forgive Chrysler for their crap cars of the past. Word-of-mouth advertising is the best advertising there is and also travels faster than the speed of light. Since buying my wife a 2012 Grand Cherokee we have experienced the best Jeep we have ever owned. I dare say, it is as good as our 2008 Highlander is in fit, finish, ride and handling.
  
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Oldyak on Aug 02, 2012

I`m afraid what most have said is true.... This company should have been allowed to fail and I`m sure we would have seen a better replacement!

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