U.S. Auto Sales Brand-By-Brand Results: June 2017 YTD

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain

Auto sales slid 3 percent in the United States in June 2017, marking the end to a first-half of 2017 in which U.S. auto sales declined in six consecutive months.

Despite Acura-fuelled improvements at American Honda, RAV4-powered increases at Toyota, Volkswagen’s continued bounce-back from the brink, a 6-percent jump in full-size pickup truck sales, and modest gains at a number of America’s top-selling premium brands, June volume fell by roughly 45,000 units, year-over-year.

June wasn’t a horrible month for auto sales in America, just as the first-half of 2017 was not a dreadful stretch. The comparison with 2016, a record year for auto sales in America, causes 2017 to appear worse than it really is.

Still, auto sales are presently being propped up by average incentives equal to roughly 10 percent of the average transaction price. In June, ALG says transaction prices rose 1.5 percent, year-over-year, to $32,900. But incentives jumped 9.7 percent to $3,550 during the same period.

Even with incentives rising 8 percent, 13 percent, and 7 percent, respectively, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors still combined to lose some 39,000 sales in June 2017. That’s not to say there weren’t bright spots at the traditional Detroit Three: pickup truck sales at Ford jumped 10 percent in June and 5 percent at Ram; SUV/crossover sales shot up 13 percent at General Motors.

Car sales, however, were a challenge for the Detroit Three and many others. Hyundai, notoriously reliant on passenger car volume, posted a 22-percent decline to 52,894 sales, well below that of corporate partner Kia (which outsold Hyundai for the first time ever in May). Hyundai sold only 22,844 Elantras and Sonatas in June 2017, barely more than the number of Elantras sold at this time last year. No volume auto brand reported a worse June drop than Hyundai, which blames a severe cutback in fleet volume for the sharp decline.

On the flip side, the improvements at Acura, Volkswagen, and Subaru were most substantial. Subaru now claims 67 consecutive months of growth. (Audi’s streak stands at 78 months.) Following the sharp reduction in sales before and after the diesel emissions scandal, Volkswagen volume has improved in eight consecutive months. Acura, which suffered through much of the early part of the year, announced a 24-percent increase in June thanks to a huge RDX uptick plus gains from the MDX and and TLX sedan.

Auto BrandJune 2017June 2016% Change2017 YTD2016 YTD% ChangeAcura 14,03811,35223.7%73,87178,994-6.5%Alfa Romeo 1,017362,725%3,7172971,152%Audi 19,41618,4455.3%102,97196,9346.2%BMW 28,96228,8550.4%149,086153,436-2.8%Buick 19,29916,57516.4%110,316104,2075.9%Cadillac 12,58014,263-11.8%72,07373,231-1.6%Chevrolet 169,842181,387-6.4%968,8821,006,890-3.8%Chrysler 19,74123,288-15.2%102,095129,902-21.4%Dodge 42,55049,314-13.7%260,980272,171-4.1%Fiat 2,2422,329-3.7%14,68216,712-12.1%Ford 217,891230,287-5.4%1,238,0601,291,873-4.2%Genesis 1,613——9,919——GMC 41,43442,985-3.6%263,175254,5873.4%Honda 125,755127,363-1.3%718,015713,3610.7%Hyundai 52,89467,511-21.7%336,441374,060-10.1%Infiniti 12,27111,05811.0%79,14364,97821.8%Jaguar 2,9462,7437.4%20,66510,99188.0%Jeep 73,15381,865-10.5%406,291465,243-12.7%Kia 56,14362,572-10.3%295,736328,327-9.9%Land Rover 5,7605,7051.0%35,83936,648-2.2%Lexus 24,39525,779-5.4%133,760151,564-11.7%Lincoln 9,2758,8095.3%56,33753,2975.7%Maserati 9609412.0%6,7785,20230.3%Mazda 22,34226,188-14.7%141,624145,354-2.6%Mercedes-Benz ° 28,99428,473 1.8%161,960 162,777 -0.5% Mercedes-Benz Vans °3,108 3,085 0.7% 15,800 15,762 0.2% Total Mercedes-Benz ° 32,10231,5581.7%177,760178,539-0.4%Mini 4,4104,914-10.3%22,20525,144-11.7%Mitsubishi 7,6258,023-5.0%54,57651,9345.1%Nissan 131,057124,4951.2%740,545733,1361.0%Porsche 4,5164,4820.8%27,56826,7083.2%Ram 48,64545,6896.5%279,595259,9587.6%Smart 226407-44.5%1,9832,593-23.5%Subaru 52,05746,59811.7%304,810279,4589.1%Toyota 177,981172,4783.2%1,021,4051,046,238-2.4%Volkswagen 27,37723,80915.0%161,238149,0148.2%Volvo 7,3038,588-15.0%34,10536,654-7.0%————— ——BMW Group33,37233,769-1.2%171,291178,580-4.1%Fiat Chrysler Automobiles 187,348202,421-7.4%1,067,3601,144,283-6.7%Daimler AG 32,32831,9651.1%179,743181,132-0.8%Ford Motor Co. 227,166239,096-5.0%1,294,3971,345,170-3.8%General Motors 243,155255,210-4.7%1,414,4461,438,915-1.7%American Honda 139,793138,7150.8%791,886792,355-0.1%Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group110,650129,983-14.9%642,096 702,387-8.6%Jaguar-Land Rover 8,7068,4483.1% 56,50447,63918.6%Nissan / Infiniti / Mitsubishi150,953148,5761.6%872,464850,0482.6%Toyota Motor Sales, USA. Inc. 202,376198,2572.1%1,155,1651,197,802-3.6%Volkswagen Group *47,011 42,39810.9%265,357246,5767.6%———————Industry Total †1,474,9701,519,684-2.9% 8,456,8968,641,718-2.1%

[Source: Manufacturers]

* Volkswagen Group includes sales figures for Audi, Bentley, Porsche, and Volkswagen brands

° Mercedes-Benz USA releases sales figures for the Mercedes-Benz brand in the conventional sense, vans excluded, as well as totals for the Metris and Sprinter vans. The complete picture is included here.

† Industry total takes into account Automotive News figures/estimates for brands such as Tesla (4,400 June units) and other low-volume, high-priced manufacturers.

[Image: Volkswagen]

Timothy Cain is a contributing analyst at The Truth About Cars and Autofocus.ca and the founder and former editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars.

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  • APaGttH APaGttH on Jul 04, 2017

    Who let Black Dynamite in here and why do they have a linked TTAC address?

  • Sgt Beavis Sgt Beavis on Jul 05, 2017

    Any chance we can get a breakdown of sales on a per model basis? I'd love to know what models to keep an eye on for a future deal.

    • Syncro87 Syncro87 on Jul 06, 2017

      Easy enough to figure out. Sedans have taken a hit lately, so deals to be found there, especially when a replacement model is imminent and there are plenty of the old version left in stock. Camry, Accord fit those criteria now. Major discounts. Others would be things that just don't sell well. Chrysler 200, etc. Mitsubishis. Chevy has announced production cuts of the Malibu, and stated themselves that they aren't selling. Probably deals to be had. Where will you not likely find deals? Hot CUV/SUVs. Probably not giving away new CR-Vs, although I've seen Ford dealers with large discounts on Escapes. You probably aren't getting a Civic Type R at $2k below invoice any time soon. Anyway, it's really not that hard to look around and see what's a deal. Carjojo is a useful tool, shows stock levels, days in inventory, etc.

  • Kwik_Shift Brands that were considered from China include BYD, Dayun, Great Wall Motors, Maxus, Nio, Omoda/Chery, Seres, XPeng, and Zeekr. KG Mobility from South Korea also made the list of candidates.That's a lot of car companies from there ready to head here.
  • Analoggrotto Clean sweep and unanimous victory for the world affluence engine of 22nd century : Hyundai/Kia/Genesis. Toyota and Lexus, for 120 years of history have not been able to capture the zenith superlative status of Hyundai Motor Corporation the most awarded, decorated and revered automotive corporation in the history of historical. Featuring best ever, first ever and greatest ever e-ATPs the Hyundai Genesis Kia lineup is posed to become the envy of every country club, ivy league college and fortune 500 corporation in the world. I've been taking a roadtrip in my loaner Elantra N, visiting colleges from east to west, elite universities of higher learning to inspect their parking lots. WHat did I find? Leagues of Genesis models, outnumbering Lexus 3 to 1. When I interviewed faculty and staff at these places of greater learning, their response was unanimous : they chose HMC for the ATPs.
  • Mikey 2019 Chevy Impala Premier FWD with 20 inch factory Bridgestones. I'm looking at replacing tires at the 65,000 KLM's (40,000 miles ) mark ....It doesn't thrill me .. I'm pricing Michelin Cross Climate 2 tires ouch !! ..Up here in Canuckastan ....Big $$$$$
  • ToolGuy Honda was robbed.
  • ToolGuy "Honey, someone is trying to cross the moat again"
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