July Sales Table: Hangover For GM And Ford, Party Time In Japan And Germany

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: August 1st, 2012

july sales table hangover for gm and ford party time in japan and germany

And now, the hangover: July brings disappointing sales numbers for GM and Ford after June had surprised. GM is down 6 percent in July. Ford is down 4 percent. Even Chrysler Group reports down to earth results with July up only 13 percent after a truly ballistic series of months. In June, Edmunds Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell politely voiced suspicions that the beautiful June numbers were the product of cosmetics:

“There was great pressure from automakers to close June strong, especially after the unexpectedly weak Memorial Day holiday weekend in May. It is the end of a quarter so undoubtedly they wanted to finish big.”

The problem with these operations is that the next month, there will be headaches. And the headaches are now. The foreigners, Subaru, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen all report solid double digit sales. Analysts did not predict stellar results for GM and Ford, but both came in much lower than analysts predicted. This does not bode well for the stock prices.

At the end of the day, the market rose 9 percent. Ford and GM lost market share. The seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate stands at 14.1 million, as expected by forecasters.

AutomakerJuly 2012July 2011Pct. chng.7 month

20127 month

2011Pct. chng.BMW Group27,18426,1504%185,939169,85110% BMW division21,29721,409–1%147,801135,1149% Mini5,8554,71124%37,91434,52710% Rolls-Royce32307%2242107%BMW Group27,18426,1504%185,939169,85110%Chrysler Group126,089112,02613%960,157751,95828% Chrysler Division20,79215,42735%188,546111,49569% Dodge35,63033,6536%297,208263,55113% Dodge/Ram60,02854,8709%464,089404,86615% Fiat3,7103,03822%24,4167,982206% Jeep41,55938,6917%283,106227,61524% Ram24,39821,21715%166,881141,31518%Chrysler Group126,089112,02613%960,157751,95828%Daimler AG22,29821,0676%164,947141,65516% Maybach4333%282133% Mercedes-Benz21,51420,7374%159,391138,75115% Smart USA780327139%5,5282,88392%Daimler AG22,29821,0676%164,947141,65516%Ford Motor Co.173,482180,315–4%1,313,8651,250,0515% Ford division166,507172,501–4%1,264,9281,199,9865% Lincoln6,9757,814–11%48,93749,817–2% Mercury–––%–248–100%Ford Motor Co.173,482180,315–4%1,313,8651,250,0515%General Motors201,237214,915–6%1,516,9501,476,5253% Buick14,39116,873–15%104,589110,472–5% Cadillac13,41711,11921%76,22987,241–13% Chevrolet138,942149,005–7%1,100,6041,053,5435% GMC34,48737,918–9%235,528225,2695%General Motors201,237214,915–6%1,516,9501,476,5253%Honda (American)116,94480,50245%817,926687,94419% Acura12,8259,40236%85,76170,08222% Honda Division104,11971,10046%732,165617,86219%Honda (American)116,94480,50245%817,926687,94419%Hyundai Group110,095105,0655%755,471672,96512% Hyundai division62,02159,5614%418,690382,35810% Kia48,07445,5046%336,781290,60716%Hyundai Group110,095105,0655%755,471672,96512%Jaguar Land Rover4,3313,79514%31,82827,49716% Jaguar1,0119843%7,5177,3942% Land Rover3,3202,81118%24,31120,10321%Jaguar Land Rover4,3313,79514%31,82827,49716%Maserati2081995%1,4961,29615%Maserati2081995%1,4961,29615%Mazda19,31820,783–7%163,115143,16214%Mazda19,31820,783–7%163,115143,16214%Mitsubishi4,1947,972–47%37,06752,087–29%Mitsubishi4,1947,972–47%37,06752,087–29%Nissan98,34184,60116%676,062589,57415% Infiniti11,6197,41057%65,99654,67821% Nissan Division86,72277,19112%610,066534,89614%Nissan98,34184,60116%676,062589,57415%Porsche2,8032,7681%19,25318,3105%Porsche2,8032,7681%19,25318,3105%Saab Cars North America–384–100%–3,855–100%Saab Cars North America–384–100%–3,855–100%Subaru25,18321,73016%189,487153,77923%Subaru25,18321,73016%189,487153,77923%Suzuki2,2662,447–7%15,26015,849–4%Suzuki2,2662,447–7%15,26015,849–4%Toyota164,898130,80226%1,210,994943,59028% Lexus18,23514,53925%126,367102,54923% Scion6,9043,44997%42,02530,12040% Toyota division139,759112,76424%1,042,602810,92129% Toyota/Scion146,663116,26326%1,084,627841,04129%Toyota164,898130,80226%1,210,994943,59028%Volkswagen48,89338,35428%323,853249,23130% Audi11,7079,14628%76,86565,05518% Bentley17214221%1,24998527% VW division37,01429,06627%245,739183,19134%Volkswagen48,89338,35428%323,853249,23130%Volvo Cars NA5,7175,5952%40,33341,898–4%Volvo Cars NA5,7175,5952%40,33341,898–4%Other

2782569%1,9461,7899%TOTAL1,153,7591,059,7269%8,425,9497,392,86614%

Table courtesy Automotive News [sub]

#AmericaInJuly2012 #BertelSchmitt #Sales #USA

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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3 of 27 comments

Jaje on Aug 01, 2012

Is there a way to get retail sales per model per month? That is the core of what automakers sell their cars for (fleet is only for economies of scale or to move inventory that the retail channel won't take). Retail sales champs are the true profitable vehicles - not total sales. Often if you take these into account you'll see that the #1 seller in a category does not make as much money as the #2 and on seller which has better retail sales / higher profit.

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- Sunridge place on Aug 01, 2012
  
  I've never seen it all in one place...you see pieces of information from time to time. Some of it at the brand level....others of it at the vehicle level. My ideal chart would have: *Total Sales *Average Transaction Price (which I believe covers only retail transactions) *Average Incentive for Retail *Fleet mix (broken down between Daily Rental/Government/Commercial) *Lease/Purchase mix It would tell the whole story. Volume isn't everything. But, when you can mix good volume, high transaction price, low incentives (especially in the ratio of incentives to transaction price) and low fleet mix....its a winner across the board.
  
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-Cole- on Aug 02, 2012

Coming to understand that "double digits" means double-digit percentage growth... always?

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