June 2010 US Sales: A Weak 14 Percent Up

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

As the following table will demonstrate, June sales rose a tepid 14 percent over an extremely low June in the year before. 860,004 light vehicles had changed hands in June 2009, a drop of 27.7 percent from June 2008. This June, 983,821vehicles left dealer lots, nowhere near the 1,189,518 units that were sold in June 2008.

In the first six months of 2010, a total of 5,615,000 vehicles were sold, 17 percent above the same period in 2009. Again, we are comparing with a very low level. In the first six months of 2009, a total of 4,809,876 units were bought, down 35.1 percent from 7,413,981 units in 2008.

Yesterday, Jessica Caldwell of Edmunds had predicted a “tortoise-like recovery,” and that’s what it looks like. Once we start comparing with the cash-for-clunker months of 2009, expect big minus signs.

In a conference call with analysts and media, Ford analyst George Pipas estimated June SAAR “in the low 11 million.” According to Reuters, “major automakers said there was no sign of the definitive second-half recovery that the battered industry had expected at the start of the year.” We better get familiar with that SAAR number of 11m and change. J.D.Power expects 11.8m units to be sold by the end of the year.


U.S. Light Vehicle Sales, June 2010


AutomakerJune 2010June 2009Pct. chng.6 month


20106 month


2009Pct. chng.BMW Group23,35720,87612%121,741114,6106%Chrysler Group LLC92,48268,29735%527,219471,19712%Daimler AG19,58516,28520%110,38293,73918%Ford Motor Co.175,690154,87313%981,352773,24227%General Motors194,716174,78511%1,077,601947,51814%Honda (American)106,627100,4206%593,909530,77812%Hyundai Group83,11164,78828%425,851352,09021%Isuzu––-%–165-100%Jaguar Land Rover4,4082,87553%20,81518,18615%Maserati18011261%91259354%Mazda18,23813,72933%115,719100,38115%Mitsubishi4,1984,362-4%26,49026,4670%Nissan†††64,57058,29811%440,332347,74427%Porsche2,141902137%10,9849,65914%Saab Spyker


216–-%738–-%Subaru21,60118,62016%125,96093,30635%Suzuki2,0352,149-5%11,54922,408-49%Toyota140,604131,6537%846,542770,44710%VW29,76826,67412%175,140135,51029%Other (estimate)294306-4%1,7641,836-4%TOTAL983,821860,00414%5,615,0004,809,87617%
Bertel Schmitt
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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  • Mjz Mjz on Jul 01, 2010

    Quality issues and bland/horrific styling catching up to Toyota/Honda.

  • Mjz Mjz on Jul 01, 2010

    Jaguar/Land Rover up 53%? Is it the new XJ that's driving sales?

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
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