Filed under: Car Buying, Earnings/Financials, By the Numbers
By the Numbers: August 2006
What a weird month. We were told a week or so ago that sales for the month of August might look artificially good compared to last year because of Hurricane Katrina's negative impact on sales. Really, however, Katrina didn't hit land until August 29th, so if next month is the greatest month ever for car sales, we'll know why. Still, credit goes to GM for breaking even in sales this month. Out of the General's entire portfolio of brands sold in North America, only Buick, Isuzu and Pontiac were down. Meanwhile, Ford's entire portfolio failed to exceed last August's sales, missing the target by 11.6% as a group. Jaguar in particular was the Biggest Loser of the month, falling behind 35.3% compared to last August. Chrysler as a whole dropped 8% last month. The Chrysler brand, however, grew its sales 3% in August, which was completely mitigated by Dodge falling 15% behind its performance last year.
Perhaps the two biggest surprises were the weak performances of BMW and Honda. The BMW Group attracted 11% fewer sales this year than last. Honda and Acura both experienced a sales decline, as well, and managed to generate sales 6.7% fewer than this time last year.
The two big winners last month were most definitely Suzuki and Toyota. Suzuki has not only maintained, but increased the rate at which its sales are growing. In July its sales grew 13% and this month they went up by 16%. We see no reason why Suzuki wouldn't reach its goal of 100,000 sales in the U.S. this year considering after eight months it has already sold 73,388 units. And finally we come to Toyota, which somehow managed to increase its August sales over last year by 13.6%, which is no small feat when as a brand you're selling over 200,000 units every month.
And for those who are interested in these kinds of things, no, Toyota did not sell more than Ford in August. In fact, as a brand Ford sold for more than any other on the market last month. Toyota did, however, come within 2,000 units of selling more than Chevrolet last month, which likely would have made as big a story as Toyota outselling Ford last month.
Biggest Winner
Suzuki
16% at 8,399Biggest Loser
Jaguar
–35.3% at 1,704 BRANDS
Acura
–8.5% at 18,263 (August 2005: 19,221)BMW
–12% at 22,421 (August 2005: 25,537)Buick
–4.7% at 22,853 (August 2005: 23,094)Cadillac
0.2% at 20,036 (August 2005: 19,262)Chevrolet
1.3% at 210,860 (August 2005: 200,393)Chrysler
3% at 47,132 (August 2005: 44,279)Dodge
–15% at 89,790 (August 2005: 102,147)Ford
–11.6% at 214,759 (August 2005: 242,849)GMC
6.1% at 42,262 (August 2005: 38,349)Honda
–6.5% at 132,990 (August 2005: 136,952)HUMMER
1.5% at 6,711 (August 2005: 6,367)Hyundai
2% at 44,635 (August 2005: 42,113)Infiniti
–26.4% at 9,429 (August 2005: 12,339)Isuzu
–13.4% at 1,125 (August 2005: 1,251)Jaguar
–35.3% at 1,704 (August 2005: 2,634)Jeep
0.0% at 42,243 (August 2005: 40,659)Kia
5.4% at 25,114 (August 2005: 23,820)Land Rover
–19.4% at 3,671 (August 2005: 4,554)Lexus
6.4% at 31,074 (August 2005: 28,125)Lincoln
–9.5% at 8,979 (August 2005: 9,918)Mazda
0.8% at 22,311 (August 2005: 22,135)Mercedes
6.9% at 20,602 (August 2005: 19,272)Mercury
–12.7% at 15,417 (August 2005: 17,668)MINI
–11% at 3,252 (August 2005: 3,342)Mitsubishi
3.7% at 10,954 (August 2005: 10,945) Nissan
–3.2% at 80,419 (August 2005: 80,026)Pontiac
–12.1% at 39,711 (August 2005: 43,483)Porsche
–12% at 2,554 (August 2005: 2,894)Saab
11.9% at 3,168 (August 2005: 2,726)Saturn
5.3% at 22,050 (August 2005: 20,162)Subaru
2% at 17,809 (August 2005: 17,426)Suzuki
16% at 8,399 (August 2005: 7,126)Toyota
13.6% at 209,104 (August 2005: 177,237)Volkswagen
1.5% at 23,420 (August 2005: 23,083)Volvo
–2.1% at 10,582 (August 2005: 10,806)TBA
Audi
COMPANIES
BMW Group
–11% at 25,763 (August 2005: 28,879)Chrysler Group
–8% at 179,165 (August 2005: 187,085)Ford Motor Co
–11.6% at 255,112 (August 2005: 288,429)General Motors
0.0% at 368,776 (August 2005: 355,180)Honda America
–6.7% at 151,253 (August 2005: 156,173)Nissan North America
–6.3% at 89,848 (August 2005: 92,365)Toyota Motor Co.
12.6% at 240,178 (August 2005: 205,362)Editors note: most percentages are reported as the change in daily sales rate (DSR) since there were 27 selling days in August 2006 versus 26 selling days in August 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.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Patricia 4:07PM (9/01/2006)
Great news for GM! After all, didn't they have Employee Discount last summer? Then, this means that GM is really turning things around.
And now, let the anti-American crowd rant...
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Ryan 4:17PM (9/01/2006)
Well the good news is Ford is once again sold more cars than Toyota. C'mon Ford hang in there, you act like government employees (ie: worthless) :-)
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YO momma Grandma-ma 4:18PM (9/01/2006)
HA! you're a joke. GM has less than 0.0% change. That's not a turn around honey... that's no change.
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Peppermint Patty 4:34PM (9/01/2006)
Patricia you dumb idiot, 0.0% change is not "good news". well maybe for GM it is. so go out and celebrate. ha-ha.
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Richard Warren 4:41PM (9/01/2006)
Zero is Zero, except in this case. While there is no change, there is no loss. A zero at this point means that the vehicles are selling at the same pace as they did with thousands of dollars slapped on the hood compounding any losses. If your selling at the same rate and not slapping thousands on the hoods and reducing a loss on the sale or making profit. You're ahead.
Last year folks were saying "look at all the money they have lost, they should sell less and make more" Well they are at 0, dead even,(selling the same)and making more. That's textbook!
Zero at this point is a positive.
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loikll 4:41PM (9/01/2006)
Recall last year GM & Ford argued over which was the #1 best selling brand: Chevy or Ford. So now for August ... Toyota is practically equal with Chevy and one good afternoon's sales away from catching Ford, yet is rapidly growing at 13% where they are almost stagnant (Chevy) or quickly shrinking (Ford).
It seems inevitable that this month is the very month that Toyota becomes the #1 brand, and they'll be galloping ahead from there.
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Fred D. 4:55PM (9/01/2006)
I suspect Honda's decline is due to lack of inventory. The last few months of hot sales has depleted dealer inventory. My local Honda dealer which normally has 100's of cars in stock, now has 19 available (0 Fits, 2 Civics, and 17 Accords (mostly 6cyl models)
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Ryan 4:55PM (9/01/2006)
"Mitsubishi 3.7% at 10,954 (August 2005: 10,945)"
Is that really a 3.7% difference?
My calculations that is less than one (1) percent lower
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Ryan 4:58PM (9/01/2006)
"7. I suspect Honda's decline is due to lack of inventory."
-Wow Honda management blows serious *ss chunks then.
-Why the lack of inventory? Because they are selling so many cars? Then you would not be down 6.5% to begin with.
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Brian W 5:06PM (9/01/2006)
Mitsubishi went up .01%
Some of the other ones are backwards?
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Lithous 5:20PM (9/01/2006)
"Mitsubishi went up .01%"
Under the totals for the companies is an editors note. They are doing daily average change because the number of days for selling was 26 last year compared to 27 this year.
Mitsubishi 3.7% at 10,954 (August 2005: 10,945)
10954/27 vs 10945/26 gives 405 (2006) vs 420 (2005).
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XJ 5:24PM (9/01/2006)
8. "Mitsubishi 3.7% at 10,954 (August 2005: 10,945)"
Is that really a 3.7% difference?
My calculations that is less than one (1) percent lower
******************************
Did you read the fine print? There was one more day counted for "August" 2006. Hence, Mitsu actually sold fewer cars per day (405.70 in 2006 vs 420.96 in 2005), thus a drop of 3.7%.
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XJ 5:24PM (9/01/2006)
Damn, Lithous beat me to it.
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Rob 5:24PM (9/01/2006)
this might explain why honda sold less than last year...
"Jesse Toprak, chief economist for Edmunds.com, an automotive Web site, predicted that auto sales overall will be up about 1 percent over a relatively slow August 2005...
Toprak expects Honda sales to be flat with August 2005, when the company had a big sales month."
then again, you never know...
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YO momma Grandma-ma 5:34PM (9/01/2006)
To: #9
Ryan... Honda does not have the building capacity as Toyota, GM or Ford to produce a great amount of cars in a short time span. Their assmebly lines do not easily change up to build a total different car like Toyota.
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Steve 5:45PM (9/01/2006)
So is GM kicking itself for selling back its stock to Suzuki, or is it because they DID sell back the stock that Suzuki is doing well?
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Joe 5:52PM (9/01/2006)
"11.
"Mitsubishi went up .01%"
Under the totals for the companies is an editors note. They are doing daily average change because the number of days for selling was 26 last year compared to 27 this year.
Mitsubishi 3.7% at 10,954 (August 2005: 10,945)
10954/27 vs 10945/26 gives 405 (2006) vs 420 (2005).
Posted at 5:18PM on Sep 1st 2006 by Lithous 0 stars"
-No, I did not actually read the editors note, but one (1) day of selling cars take the brand from up 0.1% to -3%? Well Ryan, I'm sure it's all in the math!
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Patricia 6:02PM (9/01/2006)
To the two clowns: I have a masters degree in electrical engineering, assholes. What do you have?
3. HA! you're a joke. GM has less than 0.0% change. That's not a turn around honey... that's no change.
Posted at 4:18PM on Sep 1st 2006 by YO momma Grandma-ma 0 stars
Ok RETARDS: FROM DETNEWS (THE SOURCE, idiots)
DETROIT -- Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. on Friday said August U.S. vehicle sales rose 17 percent from a year earlier and General Motors Corp.'s sales increased 3.9 percent as the companies said buyers looked to more fuel-efficient offerings
EAT YOU GED DIPLOMAS!
4. Patricia you dumb idiot, 0.0% change is not "good news". well maybe for GM it is. so go out and celebrate. ha-ha.
Posted at 4:33PM on Sep 1st 2006 by Peppermint Patty 0 stars
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DPC car videos 6:08PM (9/01/2006)
Seems like american companies are doing their homework.
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Lithous 6:19PM (9/01/2006)
1. GM had virtually 0 change but even (recently) hot BMW and Honda and Nissan took a dip.
2. GM stated less fleet this year than last year and it looks like that is the case (see link with Buick having gain in retail sales this month over last year this month: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4157432.html)
3. Lots more incentives last year.
Unless you want GM to fail, which many of you do I understand that, then this months numbers are better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick for sure for GM.
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