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

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: August 3rd, 2011

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]

#BertelSchmitt #July2011 #Sales #U.S.NewCarsSales

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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9 of 21 comments

Ttiguy on Aug 03, 2011

I guess if the toyo/honda lovers wanna try and rationalize their brands horrid sales this year with the quake argument then they must admit that IN FACT the mexico built fusion, SRX, etc are much more American after all than the Kentucky-built Camry or Ohio-built Accord. Otherwise, the Japan quake wouldn't have had such a huge impact on sales. Or it could just be that nobody just wants toyo/honda garbage any more......

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- Loser on Aug 03, 2011
  
  The Camry is in fact #1 on the list of vehicles with the most American content. Very sad but true. Yes, Toyota and Honda are no doubt slipping, but how can anyone honestly say they build garbage.
  
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- Ttiguy on Aug 03, 2011
  
  @Loser Well which one is it? If the Camry is so American an earthquake in Japan should have no more impact on it's sales than say the Fusion. Simple logic. Therefore, the only explanation is that people aren't buying camcords because they are inferior/undesirable vehicles.
  
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- Loser on Aug 03, 2011
  
  @Loser IMHO the Camcords are less desirable due to the great vehicles now available from the Koreans and Detroit. Toyota and Honda are getting lazy. Pch101 also has some good points in his post below.
  
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Dwford on Aug 03, 2011

Sales are being hurt by the lack of inventory. At my Hyundai store, right now I have NO Accents, Elantras, Tucsons, Genesis sedans, or Genesis coupes. I have 4 Sonatas, 9 Santa Fes, 2 Veracruz's and one Azera. People are coming in every day, but it is kind of hard to sell air. Nearby, the Toyota store's back lot is totally empty, as it the Honda lot. Normally we all would have 200-300 new cars in stock.

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- Mike978 on Aug 03, 2011
  
  I don`t doubt you but when I see an advert right next to your post on TTAC saying the 2011 Corolla is available with 1.9% APR for 60 months, $500 bonus cash and complimentary maintenance (Toyota Care) I do doubt. If they had such a limited stock why would they be offering more incentives than they typically do. I can understand Hyundai being short of supply because they are selling very well and deservedly so. I agree with ttiguy - if Toyota Camry's have the highest domestic content why are they so short of supply. I know it could be chips but surely that would effect Fusions, Malibus etc which have less domestic content. Does sound like the tsunami is unfortunately being used a little as an excuse especially since all the manufacturers are bouncing back months quicker than expected and Nissan was minimally affected.
  
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- Pch101 on Aug 03, 2011
  @mike978 if Toyota Camry’s have the highest domestic content why are they so short of supply. Because the bits that aren't domestic come mostly from Japan, and they're short of parts. Even if the car has 90% domestic content, the car can't be assembled without 100% of the parts. Japan literally got slammed with an earthquake, a massive tidal wave and a nuclear meltdown. Unless we're going to dwell on the plausibility of fake moon landings and the like, it's reasonable to expect that there are genuine supply chain disruptions as a result of this trifecta of catastrophe. That being said, what the incentives suggest is that Toyota may be losing its ability to maintain a price premium above its competitors, at least in certain segments. The incentives, while still below those of its Detroit rivals, would appear to reflect some softness. That would suggest that the brand halo may be fading and/or that their customers just don't have the money and credit that they used to have.
  
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- Mike978 on Aug 03, 2011
  
  @mike978 Pch101 - I understand your points. It just struck me as odd that a company that can produce between 6 and 8 million vehicles a year (lower due to earthquake issues) has trouble producing more than say 15-20,000 Corolla's and Camry's a month. The US is an important market for them (more so that Europe) and you would have thought they would have had commonalities so say some of the computer chips in the Camry would be shared with the Avensis in Europe (the mid-size equivalent). I thought they liked globalised, common parts. The other thing, as previously mentioned, is that if they are having such trouble producing (and other manufacturers who rely on some Japanese components are not) then why off large (for them) incentives. Anyway this will be resolved before the end of the year so during 2012 we can finally see if the compact and midsize order has been upended by Hyundai, GM, Ford and VW. We will be finally away from bankruptcies, bailouts, earthquakes, unexpected gas price hikes and other "anomolies" that prevent the truth from being clearly seen.
  
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- Pch101 on Aug 03, 2011
  @mike978 The US is an important market for them It is. But about three-quarters of their market is outside of North America, and they're not going to prioritize the US at the expense of every other market. The other thing, as previously mentioned, is that if they are having such trouble producing (and other manufacturers who rely on some Japanese components are not) then why offer large (for them) incentives. Toyota's incentives are below the industry average, and a fair bit below those of Detroit. The incentive spend is certainly moving in the wrong direction for Toyota and in the right direction for the domestics, but GM (which you seem to like) is still shelling out $1,000 more than is Toyota. http://www.autoobserver.com/2011/08/japanese-brands-boost-incentives-spend.html I would agree, though, that Toyota's issues are not caused solely by the tsunami aftermath. The competition is more intense, and TMC's branding strength has taken a bit of a bullet. The main beneficiary is clearly Hyundai, although Ford is making noteworthy gains and GM seems to be making progress.
  
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