BMW, Suffering From Premium Irish Flu, Taking Action on Inventories

BMW went on a mad rager last year as it did everything it possibly could to claim the U.S. luxury sales crown from Mercedes and Lexus — and now katzenjammer is in full effect.

The premium German brand is looking at piled-up stocks of cars sitting on dealer lots. Predictably, those dealers aren’t happy, and BMW is trying to inject some saline to recover.

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No Fixed Abode: They Paved Manuals, and Put Up a Four-Door Coupe

I come to bury Derek Kreindler, not to praise him.

No, wait.

I come to praise Derek, not to bury him.

Scratch that.

I come to agree with Derek, and to disagree with him. And to agree with him again. Wait a minute, it will make sense.

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Compact SUVs Gain Popularity At Expense Of Midsize, Compact Cars

While compact SUVs are doing well in the showroom, their success comes at the expense of midsize and compact car sales.

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Fuel Prices Leave Efficient, Greener Offerings On The Lot

Falling fuel prices are helping to drive sales of SUVs and trucks as of late, but at the expense of more efficient, greener offerings.

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Dodge Viper Assembly To Resume Mid-November

After months of idling, the Dodge Viper will once again roll out of the assembly line to a roped-off display near you.

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Bloated Inventories Lead GM To Idle Cadillac Plants

Back in May, we reported on the rather fat inventory levels of Cadillac’s products, examining through the context of the one product with less than 100 days of supply – the SRX crossover. A few months later, dealers are tight on the newly redesigned Escalade, but the inventory picture for Cadillac’s car lineup hasn’t gotten much better.

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Rising Inventories: A Race To The Bottom?

While our own Ronnie Schreiber may have taken Zero Hedge to task for its inaccurate story on unsold cars, Australia is facing a situation where rising inventories have created a buyers market, just as local production of automobiles is winding down.

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Consider the Source. Lots of Unsold Cars Are Normal.

Photograph: Nigel Roddis/Reuters

There’s a post at the Zero Hedge finance site that’s getting some attention. It’s really a repost from this site, and it includes a number of aerial and satellite photos of thousands of new automobiles that the author says are sitting on storage lots, unsold. The author claims that automobile manufacturers are continuing to churn out thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of cars that will likely never ever sell. He warns that those cars that do sell will suffer mechanical issues from having sat for so long. He claims that those cars that don’t sell are recycled and that it’s all a sham to keep assembly lines churning. The author also doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

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Ford to Idle Fusion Assembly at Flat Rock Plant for One Week in December to Control Inventory. Camry Incentives Blamed.

In August, Ford Motor Company started production of their mid-sized Fusion sedan at its Flat Rock, Michigan assembly plant, supplementing production in Mexico to keep up with demand.

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Sales Up In August, SAAR Exceeds 16 Million For First Time Since '07

AutomakerAug. 2013Aug. 2012Pct. chng.8 month
20138 month
2012Pct. chng. BMW division24,52316,83546%188,997164,63615% Mini6,0235,7185%44,32943,6322% Rolls-Royce84796%6726326%BMW Group30,63022,63235%233,998208,90012% Chrysler Division28,67828,0702%212,495216,616–2% Dodge52,85847,34812%413,258344,55620% Dodge/Ram86,44573,41318%653,985537,50222% Fiat4,1904,1501%29,58528,5664% Jeep46,23942,8398%317,921325,945–3% Ram33,58726,06529%240,727192,94625%Chrysler Group165,552148,47212%1,213,9861,108,62910% Maybach–4–100%–32–100% Mercedes-Benz26,15122,68915%203,147182,08712% Smart USA99375332%6,3126,2811%Daimler AG27,14423,44616%209,459188,40011% Ford division212,212188,60813%1,649,8211,453,53614% Lincoln8,1928,1411%53,39957,078–6%Ford Motor Co.220,404196,74912%1,703,2201,510,61413% Buick24,65018,00037%141,880122,58916% Cadillac20,25514,70438%119,58690,93332% Chevrolet187,740169,97810%1,365,5441,270,5828% GMC43,20237,83814%303,254273,36611%General Motors275,847240,52015%1,930,2641,757,47010% Acura17,05115,6469%109,182101,4078% Honda Division149,381115,67529%944,267847,84011%Honda (American)166,432131,32127%1,053,449949,24711% Hyundai division66,10161,0998%493,116479,7893% Kia52,02550,0284%378,380386,809–2%Hyundai Group118,126111,1276%871,496866,5981% Jaguar1,7231,02967%11,1348,54630% Land Rover4,9383,72733%31,97228,03814%Jaguar Land Rover6,6614,75640%43,10636,58418%Maserati32621949%1,8621,7159%Mazda28,10622,23226%198,026185,3467%Mitsubishi5,2814,24924%40,98041,316–1% Infiniti11,88411,1557%71,87977,151–7% Nissan Division108,61487,36024%782,369697,42612%Nissan120,49898,51522%854,248774,57710%Subaru41,06128,29345%281,652217,78029%Suzuki*–1,968–100%5,94617,228–66% Lexus29,79224,23723%171,238150,60414% Scion7,6987,7220%48,95949,747–2% Toyota division194,047156,56124%1,313,5251,199,16310% Toyota/Scion201,745164,28323%1,362,4841,248,9109%Toyota231,537188,52023%1,533,7221,399,51410% Audi14,00511,52722%101,34688,39215% Bentley19815627%1,5651,40511% Lamborghini*46437%3683447% Porsche3,3273,02610%28,45622,27928% VW division40,34241,011–2%282,913286,750–1%Volkswagen57,91855,7634%414,648399,1704%Volvo Cars NA5,5186,319–13%44,00546,649–6%Other**2532463%2,0241,9633%TOTAL1,501,2941,285,34717%10,636,0919,711,70010%

Riding on strong pickup truck and sedan sales, Chrysler Group and Ford Motor Co. both posted 12% overall sales increases from last August. It was Chrysler’s 41st straight year to year monthly increase. A number of manufacturers’ sales were constrained by tight inventory of models in high demand.

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Chinese Car Dealers Report Inventories Remain High

According the the China Automobile Dealers Association, despite efforts by car makers to reduce inventories, Chinese domestic brand dealers still had 49 days worth of supply in June, a figure that would be considered decent in North America, where two months is the norm. But it’s a matter of concern in China, where normal dealer inventories are 24 to 36 days. That figure is an improvement over the 61 days of supply at the end of May.

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Piston Slap: The Last SAAB = Good Deal?
Bruce writes:

I got my 2007 9-3 serviced at the Falls Church, VA Saab dealership. My question: They had new (2011) 9-5s for $20,000 off the sticker price. Almost half off. Are they a good deal? Would you buy one?

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Dodge Has Its Own Inventory Problems

While the GM inventory woes have been a fixture of TTAC for months, excess inventory isn’t the sole domain of GM’s pickups. Chrysler is having its own issues, with the Dodge Dart suffering from a glut of inventory.

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Chart Of The Day: GM Full-Size Truck Inventory, 1/2010 – 8/2012

Only one more day until we get August sales data, and September 4th will bring us the latest inventory numbers. Here at TTAC, we’re keeping an eye on GM’s full-size truck inventory, which is as high as 145 days for the GMC Sierra – well above the 100 day supply that’s considered safe for full-size trucks.

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GM's Truck Inventories Keep Rising, Sales Keep Falling

What’s up this month at GM? Inventories of full-size trucks. What’s not? Sales of full-size trucks.

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  • 1995 SC At least you can still get one. There isn't much for Ford folks to be happy about nowadays, but the existence of the Mustang and the fact that the lessons from back in the 90s when Ford tried to kill it and replace it with the then flavor of the day seem to have been learned (the only lessons they seem to remember) are a win not only for Ford folks but for car people in general. One day my Super Coupe will pop its headgaskets (I know it will...I read it on the Internet). I hope I will still be physically up to dropping the supercharged Terminator Cobra motor into it. in all seriousness, The Mustang is a.win for car guys.
  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.