By the Numbers: July 2006
The numbers for July have rolled in and we bet most manufacturers wish they would roll right back out. Of the 34 brands that have reported their July sales so far, 22 are reporting a drop in monthly sales versus the same period last year. The Chrysler Group's drop has attracted the most attention thus far, with each of the group's three brands (Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep) reporting between a 34% and 35% drop in sales. The few bright spots Chrysler pointed out include the Chrysler 300 gaining 4% and the Dodge Charger jumping 53% in sales over last July. The newly arrived Jeep Compass wasn't on lots long in July, but did manage to move 707 units.
The big theme of July's sales figures is that truck and SUV sales are dragging down sales as a whole. Chevy's passenger car sales were up 18.2% in July at 81,430 units, but the brand's truck division fell 27.9% so that total sales were down 17.1%. While Ford's passenger car sales were down only 5.6%, its truck and SUV sales fell 44.1%, producing brand-wide sales that were 35.7% below July 2005.
Of course, no one is surprised how harsh the hot summer month of July has been considering the successful sales incentives of last summer. Except, perhaps, the Chrysler Group, which was the only automaker to reinstate employee pricing again this summer yet still get whacked with a big drop in sales. Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Co. and Honda America continue their aggressive grab for market share by posting a 16.21% and 10.2% rise in sales last month, respectively.
Big Winner:
Isuzu 34.2%
Big Loser:
Saab -41.2%
BRANDS
Acura
–4.9% at 18,203 (July 2005: 19,909)Audi
–2.6% at 7,005 (July 2005: 7,190)BMW
–13.4% at 20,083 (July 2005: 23,178)Buick
–34.7% at 23,609 (July 2005: 37,618)Cadillac
–21.8% at 19,124 (July 2005: 25,431)Chevrolet
–17.1% at 244,080 (July 2005: 306,160)Chrysler
–35% at 38,124 (July 2005: 61,193)Dodge
–35% at 76,394 (July 2005: 122,673)Ford
–35.7% at 199,735 (July 2005: 310,757)GMC
–36.5% at 48,085 (July 2005: 78,717)Honda
12.7% at 133,601 (July 2005: 123,308)HUMMER
–2.7% at 6,991 (July 2005: 7,476)Hyundai
6.2% at 47,205 (July 2005: 44,431)Infiniti
–18.1% at 10,548 (July 2005: 13,395)Isuzu
34.2% at 1,336 (July 2005: 1,035)Jaguar
–15.1% at 1,997 (July 2005: 2,353)Jeep
–34% at 35,831 (July 2005: 56,280)Kia
2.3% at 26,429 (July 2005: 26,052)Land Rover
–30.6% at 3,524 (July 2005: 5,080)Lexus
5.6% at 26,959 (July 2005: 26,562)Lincoln
–21.5% at 9,125 (July 2005: 11,621)Mazda
5% at 25,963 (July 2005: 24,820)Mercedes
3.8% at 21,591 (July 2005: 20,791)Mercury
–34.1% at 16,635 (July 2005: 25,238)MINI
-3.7% at 3,528 (July 2005: 3,662)Mitsubishi
1.2% at 10,376 (July 2005: 10,376)Nissan
–16% at 75,860 (July 2005: 93,905)Pontiac
.1% at 40,993 (July 2005: 42,541)Saab
–41.2% at 3,658 (July 2005: 6,469)Saturn
–4.3% at 22,516 (July 2005: 24,471)Subaru -
5% at 18,923 (July 2005: 17,959)Suzuki
13% at 8,030 (July 2005: 7,125)Toyota
17.71% at 214,867 (July 2005: 189,855)Volkswagen
5% at 22,627 (July 2005: 21,553)Volvo
–10.2% at 10,323 (July 2005: 11,499)Porsche - YET TO REPORT
COMPANIES
BMW Group
–12% at 23,611 (July 2005: 26,840)Chrysler Group
–35% at 150,349 (July 2005: 240,146)Ford Motor Co
–34.2% at 241,339 (July 2005: 366,548)General Motors
–19.5% at 410,332 (July 2005: 530,027)Honda America
10.2% at 151,804 (July 2005: 143,217)Nissan North America
–16.2% at 86,408 (July 2005: 107,300)Toyota Motor Co.
16.21% at 241,826 (July 2005: 216,417)Editors note: most percentages are reported as the change in daily sales rate (DSR) since there were only 25 selling days in July 2006 versus 26 selling days in July 2005. We found many automakers had averaged out the amount of vehicles sold per day in July of both years and used that figure to calculate the percentage of loss or gain year-over-year.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ryan 5:23PM (8/01/2006)
"Honda America continue their aggressive grab for market share by posting a 16.21% and 10.2% rise in sales last month, respectively."
Well Honda is only up 5.3% if you count they're Acura's nobody wants to buy.
Reply
JSFORBES 5:25PM (8/01/2006)
Why would Saab take such a dive?
I went to a Ford and a Honda dealer ship the other day. The Ford place was a ghost town (they only had a few passenger cars on the lot for some reason) and the Honda place was packed. The salesmen said they were selling cars as fast as they could get them in.
Reply
Ryan 5:27PM (8/01/2006)
Wow I never realized the raw numbers:
Toyota Sold: 241,826 automobiles
General Motors Sold: 410,332 automobiles
Toyota has a much longer way to go than I thought. A MUCH LONGER way to go.
Reply
JSFORBES 5:36PM (8/01/2006)
Ryan, how many of those GM sales are for fleets?
Still, the bump in passenger cars sales is impressive, if only they hadn't bet on trucks and SUVs.
Reply
Jaimie B 5:46PM (8/01/2006)
Honda UP 10.2%
Toyota UP 16.21%
GM DOWN -19.5%
Ford DOWN A WHOPPING 34.2%
...'nuff said.
Reply
Ted 5:59PM (8/01/2006)
Saab's nosedive is totally understandable because of last year's employee discount blowout. They actually had a good month compared with the rest of the year, and they probably won't have a huge sales hangover later this year.
I don't know who would buy an Isuzu now, but with 1336 sold last month, there's not much to write home about. If I wanted an Isuzu, I'd buy a GM.
Even though GM was down like 20%, they still had a pretty good month. Ford and Chrysler had terrible months and it doesn't look a whole lot better for them. And Nissan is totally down the drain now.
Reply
XiozTzu 6:23PM (8/01/2006)
I'm sure there is an explanation for this but... The numbers seem a bit off.
Company 2006 2005 % Diff Diff Article Diff
BMW Group 23,611 26,840 -12% -3,229 –12%
Chrysler 150,349 240,146 -37% -89,797 –35%
Ford 241,339 366,548 -34% -125,209 –34.2%
GM 410,332 530,027 -23% -119,695 –19.5%
Honda 151,804 143,217 6% 8,587 10.2% Nissan 86,408 107,300 -19% -20,892 –16.2%
Toyota 241,826 216,417 12% 25,409 16.21%
All N.A. 1,305,669 1,630,495 -15% -324,826
For one the GM, Chrysler, Nissan, Toyota and Honda numbers are off.
Anyhow, If I were Toyota and Honda I wouldn't think this is such a great turn out, as the North American Market shrunk by -324,826 and they only picked up a relatively small percentage of it. This means 300k buyers put off buying a new car or they bought a used on. Not exactly the outcome any company wants.
Reply
hmm 6:46PM (8/01/2006)
It is a pity that all American brands are down by 2 digit percent. well, except Hummer.
I feel sorry for them. I really do.
Reply
Cap'n 6:52PM (8/01/2006)
#6 can you read.... Editors note: most percentages are reported as the change in daily sales rate (DSR) since there were only 25 selling days in July 2006 versus 26 selling days in July 2005. We found many automakers had averaged out the amount of vehicles sold per day in July of both years and used that figure to calculate the percentage of loss or gain year-over-year.
In addition your comment about Toyota and Honda make no sence. While all other manufacturs are off 10 percent or greather they both namaged to increase sales by 10 to 16 percent. For a similar sized companys (Ford and Toyota) that represents a 50% swing in business.
Reply
john 7:37PM (8/01/2006)
ISUZU UP 34%! wow, who would want one?
Reply
Scott W 8:21PM (8/01/2006)
Toyota already is #2 globally behind GM, and has been for about 2 years now. Earlier this year, they passed DCX for 3rd in the US. Now this month, they pass Ford for the first time in the US to take the #2 spot. I saw global sales figures for the 1st 6 months of this year. Toyota is only about 300k units behind GM for the first 6 months of this year. Considering that only 2 years ago, GM produced 2 million more cars than Toyota annually, looks like they will supplant GM globally either this year or next.
Toyota has a great lineup of vehicles right now, and will be releasing even more refreshed versions in the next 12 months. Camry is the #1 selling car by far. And my understanding is the Camry is pretty sold out at most dealers. Corolla is the #2 selling car, and is setting sales records in the US this year. New FJ cruisers have rocketed in sales since being released in March (cool vehicle by the way,and a real offroad vehicle - going to eat the Hummers and some of the Jeep products for lunch the next few years).
I know many are trying to rationalize the Big 3 sales figures vs last year, by factoring in the incentive fires sales of 2005. However, when you look at the raw number of units, the sales drops by GM, Ford, and DCX are absolutely astounding. Between them, they sold 330,000 LESS vehicles than July 2005. That is almost hard to believe.
I am really worried about Ford and DCX. GM does seem to be making some good moves, even if slower that Kerkorian would like. Ford just does not have any kind of a product mix right now. And doesn't look like they will for another 2 years. They need some fresh ideas and management from outside the Ford family. And even though I like the "Dr Z" commercials, things must be bad if you are having to rehash Lee Iococca advertising from the 1980's.
Many bash Toyota and Honda here. But in a free market, ultimately the customer speaks with their dollars. So even though many think Toyota's quality is slipping, and designs are boring, bottom line is the people buying the cars and trucks don't think so.
Reply
jerry weber 9:30PM (8/01/2006)
It's called spinning, what politicians do to tell you they and us (the Country) are moving foreward. In the comment above mine, the author tells it all, no matter what the big three say, do, discounts, fire sales, bluster, saying they are on target (to slowly whittle themselves out of business), the handwriting could not be clearer the Asian companies keep on coming, remember these are not anamolies do to fire sales last year at this time, these increases keep coming month after month. The profits these Asian companies are generating goes right back into product, which means they can accelerate their cycles of new models. Which distances them further from when the big three fire their tired canons with new product, the other guys are again another cycle ahead. The most egregious example is Lincoln, once ahead of cadillac and the foreign brands, it is down to 9000 units per month. It is literally anchored by it's 4500 pound town car refreshed in 1999,chassis so old no one can remember. They have put lincoln badges on some trucks and ford cars, this formula means is their room in the graveyard for them next to oldsmobile. One by one the icons are fading into the sunset.
Reply
Mark 9:55PM (8/01/2006)
I think the drop off of Nissan sales is the most interesting thing here (after the big Isuzu victory, of course). Down 16%. Did they have a big sale last summer or has their steadily expanding product line of trucks over cars started to catch up with it?
Reply
dt 9:55PM (8/01/2006)
Re: Isuzu. They sold all of 1336 units, so big percentage swings are not surprising (100 units out of 1000 is 10%; out of 100000 units it's 0.1%)
Re: Saab. I'm surprised they're still alive. They have the nice but ancient 9-3, the even more ancient 9-5, and a Trailblazer with Swedish makeup. What a lineup. Have GM actually put out a genuinely new Saab since they've owned it? At least they finally seem to realize that Saab can be their technology leader.
Re: Ford. They make 3 compelling products, the F-150, the Mustang, and the GT. In a time of high gas prices they desperately need to cover the compact and subcompact end, which they have in Europe but not here. Instead of bringing them stateside, they worry about ... a 3 bar grill. With that kind of management, they're doomed.
Re: Chrysler group. They recently released the Charger and Caliber, and the Magnum and 300C aren't that old. What's up with that?
Looks like a moderately grim year overall, except for the Asian companies, Nissan excepted (and Merc and VW, but the other way).
Reply
Bob 10:37PM (8/01/2006)
#11 I think the issue at Nissan is almost exactly as you say. They introduced a whole bunch of new trucks in the last few years, while their car line-up has been aging. They delayed the new Sentra a year and that seems to be hurting them now. I would expect this downturn in Nissan sales to continue for another month or so until the new 2007 Altima and Sentra are out. The Versa and refreshed Maxima seem to be selling well so far and if that holds true for the rest of the year, along with the new Altima and Sentra, they should boost sales nicely by the end of this year into next.
Reply
Mitsufan 10:40PM (8/01/2006)
Mitsu numbers are off. 10,502 (up 1.2 percent) is correct. If the poster is taking DSR into account, that should be reflected in the percentage AND the raw figure. As it is, Mitsu is listed as 10,376 for 2005 and 2006 -- should be 0%.
Regardless YAY Mitsu for keeping its head above water.
Reply
Finished.Law.School 11:18PM (8/01/2006)
Considering how shitty Saabs look lately it is no surprise that they are taking such a dive... Although I like the 93Aero if it would run farther than 100 miles before breaking...
Reply
Mike 11:53PM (8/01/2006)
Isuzu up 34%?! Fantastic! They sold 3 cars this month instead of 2!!!!
Reply
buckeyeguy 12:40AM (8/02/2006)
#1 - thanks for sharing your ignorance of business analysis.
Yes, Acura was down but significantly less so than everyone they would consider a competitor (except Audi - and that's a stretch to say they compete for the same customer). That is considered a good thing.
Reply
iQuack 1:04AM (8/02/2006)
These short-term numbers don't mean much. Remember the huge, GM employee discount deals last year and Saab's fire sale of that 9-2 Saabaru thing that was a good deal if you wanted a Subaru with a Saab snout on it.
The heat wave means nothing because most showrooms have decent air conditioning anyway.
Isuzu sells so few cars that percentage increases don't mean much. If Isuzu sold 5 cars last year, then they'd double their sales by selling 10 cars--only 5 more units.
With respect to Saab, its entire line of cars is old and not worth improving. GM should kill Saab and put more effort into brands that have a chance to succeed.
Reply