By the Numbers: July 2007
by John Neff on Aug 1st 2007 at 3:54PM 
NOTE: Since there were 24 selling days in July 2007 versus 25 in July 2006, the percentages below represent the change in Daily Average Sales rate for each automaker and not the change in raw number of units sold.
One day we're going to replace the image at right with a graphic of a car going up a hill, but today is not that day. July 2007 was a brutal month for the vast majority of companies selling cars and trucks in the U.S. GM was down 18.5% in sales compared to July 2006. Ford was down 15.7%. Chrysler was down 4.6%. Out of those three domestic automakers, only three of their brands improved last month: Land Rover (23.8%), Lincoln (1.9%) and Jeep (8.6%). Heck, even Toyota Motor Co.'s sales decreased (-3.5%)!
Aside from being a slow-selling summer month, there were less less selling days in July 2007 than July 2006, but our percentages below account for that by comparing just the Daily Average Sales rate for each brand and automaker.
There were some pleasant surprises among all that red, however, including BMW, which together with MINI USA, posted a sales increase of 25.1% last month. The brand BMW was the Biggest Winner this month up 26%, but MINI more than held its own by also increasing sales 20.1% over last year. Big ups to Nissan (7.6%) for bucking the trend, as well.
Biggest Winner
BMW
26% at 24,295 (07/06: 20,083)
Biggest Loser
Jaguar
–40.7% at 1,136 (07/06: 1,997)
BRANDS
Acura–17.7% at 14,381 (07/06: 18,203)
Audi6% at 7,127 (07/06: 7,005)
BMW26% at 24,295 (07/06: 20,083)
Buick–26.5% at 16,654 (07/06: 23,609)
Cadillac–5.2% at 17,412 (07/06: 19,124)
Chevrolet–21.9% at 183,103 (07/06: 244,080)
Chrysler–5.4% at 34,631 (07/06: 38,124)
Dodge–10.4% at 65,742 (07/06: 76,394)
Ford–16.2% at 160,590 (07/06: 199,735)
GMC–4.6% at 44,060 (07/06: 48,085)
Honda–1.2% at 126,668 (07/06: 133,601)
HUMMER–27.1% at 4,895 (07/06: 6,991)
Hyundai–4.0% at 43,511 (07/06: 47,205)
Infiniti–5.9% at 9,526 (07/06: 10,546)
Isuzu–8.5% at 1,173 (07/06: 1,336)
Jaguar–40.7% at 1,136 (07/06: 1,997)
Jeep8.6% at 37,355 (07/06: 35,831)
Land Rover23.8% at 4,189 (07/06: 3,524)
Lexus–4.9% at 27,141 (07/06: 26,959)
Lincoln1.9% at 8,929 (07/06: 9,125)
Mazda3.72% at 25,853 (07/06: 25,963)
Mercedes–10.3% at 18,586 (07/06: 21,591)
Mercury–32% at 10,852 (07/06: 16,635)
MINI20.1% at 4,069 (07/06: 3,528)
Mitsubishi2.6% at 10,347 (07/06: 10,502)
Nissan7.6% at 78,351 (07/06: 75,860)
Pontiac–23.6% at 30,023 (07/06: 40,933)
Porsche5.0% at 3,230 (07/06: 3,202)
Saab–7.5% at 3,247 (07/06: 3,658)
Saturn–5.8% at 20,368 (07/06: 22,516)
Subaru–15% at 15,438 (07/06: 18,923)
Toyota–4.5% at 196,917 (07/06: 214,867)
Volkswagen–9.5% at 19,653 (07/06: 22,627)
Volvo–3.6% at 9,549 (07/06: 10,323)
NOT YET REPORTED
Kia
Suzuki
COMPANIES
BMW Group25.1% at 28,364 (07/06: 23,611)
Chrysler Group–4.6% at 137,728 (07/06: 150,349)
Ford Motor Co–15.7% at 195,245 (07/06: 241,339)
General Motors–18.5% at 320,935 (07/06: 410,332)
Honda America–3.2% at 141,049 (07/06: 151,804)
Nissan North America5.9% at 87,877 (07/06: 86,406)
Toyota Motor Co.–3.5% at 224,058 (07/06: 241,826)
One day we're going to replace the image at right with a graphic of a car going up a hill, but today is not that day. July 2007 was a brutal month for the vast majority of companies selling cars and trucks in the U.S. GM was down 18.5% in sales compared to July 2006. Ford was down 15.7%. Chrysler was down 4.6%. Out of those three domestic automakers, only three of their brands improved last month: Land Rover (23.8%), Lincoln (1.9%) and Jeep (8.6%). Heck, even Toyota Motor Co.'s sales decreased (-3.5%)! Aside from being a slow-selling summer month, there were less less selling days in July 2007 than July 2006, but our percentages below account for that by comparing just the Daily Average Sales rate for each brand and automaker.
There were some pleasant surprises among all that red, however, including BMW, which together with MINI USA, posted a sales increase of 25.1% last month. The brand BMW was the Biggest Winner this month up 26%, but MINI more than held its own by also increasing sales 20.1% over last year. Big ups to Nissan (7.6%) for bucking the trend, as well.
Biggest Winner
BMW
26% at 24,295 (07/06: 20,083)Biggest Loser
Jaguar
–40.7% at 1,136 (07/06: 1,997)BRANDS
Acura
–17.7% at 14,381 (07/06: 18,203)Audi
6% at 7,127 (07/06: 7,005)BMW
26% at 24,295 (07/06: 20,083)Buick
–26.5% at 16,654 (07/06: 23,609)Cadillac
–5.2% at 17,412 (07/06: 19,124)Chevrolet
–21.9% at 183,103 (07/06: 244,080)Chrysler
–5.4% at 34,631 (07/06: 38,124)Dodge
–10.4% at 65,742 (07/06: 76,394)Ford
–16.2% at 160,590 (07/06: 199,735)GMC
–4.6% at 44,060 (07/06: 48,085)Honda
–1.2% at 126,668 (07/06: 133,601)HUMMER
–27.1% at 4,895 (07/06: 6,991)Hyundai
–4.0% at 43,511 (07/06: 47,205)Infiniti
–5.9% at 9,526 (07/06: 10,546)Isuzu
–8.5% at 1,173 (07/06: 1,336)Jaguar
–40.7% at 1,136 (07/06: 1,997)Jeep
8.6% at 37,355 (07/06: 35,831)Land Rover
23.8% at 4,189 (07/06: 3,524)Lexus
–4.9% at 27,141 (07/06: 26,959)Lincoln
1.9% at 8,929 (07/06: 9,125)Mazda
3.72% at 25,853 (07/06: 25,963) Mercedes
–10.3% at 18,586 (07/06: 21,591)Mercury
–32% at 10,852 (07/06: 16,635)MINI
20.1% at 4,069 (07/06: 3,528)Mitsubishi
2.6% at 10,347 (07/06: 10,502)Nissan
7.6% at 78,351 (07/06: 75,860)Pontiac
–23.6% at 30,023 (07/06: 40,933)Porsche
5.0% at 3,230 (07/06: 3,202)Saab
–7.5% at 3,247 (07/06: 3,658)Saturn
–5.8% at 20,368 (07/06: 22,516)Subaru
–15% at 15,438 (07/06: 18,923)Toyota
–4.5% at 196,917 (07/06: 214,867)Volkswagen
–9.5% at 19,653 (07/06: 22,627)Volvo
–3.6% at 9,549 (07/06: 10,323)NOT YET REPORTED
Kia
Suzuki
COMPANIES
BMW Group
25.1% at 28,364 (07/06: 23,611)Chrysler Group
–4.6% at 137,728 (07/06: 150,349)Ford Motor Co
–15.7% at 195,245 (07/06: 241,339)General Motors
–18.5% at 320,935 (07/06: 410,332)Honda America
–3.2% at 141,049 (07/06: 151,804)Nissan North America
5.9% at 87,877 (07/06: 86,406)Toyota Motor Co.
–3.5% at 224,058 (07/06: 241,826)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Dieter 4:05PM (8/01/2007)
Why is it that Kia never seems to be able to report their monthly figures at the time most other companies can?
Reply
Tyk 4:07PM (8/01/2007)
Oh man, Izusu outsold Jaguar... they probably sold like 100 cars in Canada.
Reply
ello 4:14PM (8/01/2007)
Hmmmm, looking at all the numbers, this doesn't speak good of US economy, most car manufacturers sales are down, real estate sales are down, only stock market seems to look good on TV as the only reason why it is up is because of the weak dollar :S
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Mr. Oak 4:32PM (8/01/2007)
I bet the economy is up in India.
ello 4:17PM (8/01/2007)
And why the hell is Land Rover up so much? Status symbol? I guess there is more shows offs in US than I thought, because Land Rover offers nothing that a normal car buyer would want which is reliability, fuel economy, aesthetics, and even their off road capability is matched by much cheaper US and Japanese SUVs...
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brian 4:36PM (8/01/2007)
When you only sell a few thousand cars, a couple hundred extra is a decent %.
Why is Lexus showing a decline? They sold more cars than last year in fewer days, should be up.
Doogs 5:30PM (8/01/2007)
The new Freelander...er...LR2.
Same thing happened when Hummer rolled out the H3.
Don 4:20PM (8/01/2007)
Geeze. Everyone's in the crapper.
Reply
Lithous 4:26PM (8/01/2007)
GM was down in sales for the last two months and yet turned around earnings by almost $5 Billion for the same quarter, correct? I believe they had record revenues for a car company this past quarter as well.
What all this means is that those people who think cutting costs isn't going to help GM (at least to the point of saving them) could be incorrect. They are bringing plenty of money in, they just need to be more efficient with it. Though that is easier said than done with legacy costs of course.
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The Other Bob 4:33PM (8/01/2007)
The fact that they aren't selling as many to rentals hurts the number of models they sell, but improves their profits.
The same goes to the fact they are lowering incentives. Less cars sold, but more profit.
Silver 4:44PM (8/01/2007)
GM could be more efficient by cutting brands and redundancy. Is there really any benefit to having both the Saturn Sky and the Pontiac Solstice??? Where's the upside to that strategy? How about all the Chevy/GMC overlap? Yukon/Tahoe? Yukon XL/Suburban? Denali/Escalade? Huh??? Pointless and expensive, and confusing to consumers.
Time to cut the clutter, GM.
Lithous 4:53PM (8/01/2007)
I was hoping to point out that the stupid things said about GM all the time by the haters that, "nobody wants a GM" and that they have to give their cars away is far from true. If Toyota sells more vehicles now and GM had *record* revenues it means GM is actually bringing in more money than Toyota with less product, correct? Therefore, GM must just become more efficient. This proves their product is as good or better than Toyota from the customers point of view (how else do you take in more money with less cars?) Gasp, even with badge engineering, which GM *has* to do more than anyone else because of franchise laws (since GM can't just cut off a division in 2 seconds with no cost)
What is GM's North American revenue vs expenditures for the last quarter? I'm curious about those numbers and how far off they are from NA profitability.
YouFaceTheTick 4:27PM (8/01/2007)
Is it the 3 series convertible that pushed BMW so hard? Weird. I can't fathom what would increase their sales so much.
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Mr. Oak 4:36PM (8/01/2007)
The figure that jumped out at me is that GM sold more Hummers than Saabs.
Hell, I thought everyone who wanted a Hummer already had one.
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Silver 4:39PM (8/01/2007)
Uh oh, cue all the "import drivers hate America!" nutjobs!
Detroit foolishly hitched its wagon to big SUVs (with no backup plan) and is finally paying the price, as we've all suspected it would. Where are Detroit's answers to the Camry/Accord/Altima or Corolla/Civic? Nowhere, that's where. (Malibu? Please...).
Note to Detroit: quality, design, innovation, efficiency. That's what tomorrow's market will be looking for. Are you up to the challenge, or are you just going to keep cruising toward oblivion with your Escalade on cruise control?
I'm afraid that whatever they may have in the pipeline might be too little, too late.
Reply
Mr. Oak 4:51PM (8/01/2007)
Why does the world end tomorrow?
Ugli 4:53PM (8/01/2007)
I think you're totally right, but even a right-minded argument of that type is kind of misplaced here. For, you see, *everyone* is down, including Toyota, Honda, etc. You're supposed to rub the domestic noses in it when they're -20% and everyone else is +20%.
It looks like you just couldn't wait to trot out your favorite old-chestnut of an argument, but trust me, there are numerous better articles to use as an impetus. Give it ten minutes and I'm sure one will pop up.
Silver 4:59PM (8/01/2007)
"For, you see, *everyone* is down, including Toyota, Honda, etc." - Ugli
Being down 1.2% (Honda) or 4.5% (Toyota) is a far cry from being down 21.% (Chevy) or 27.1% (Hummer).
My argument still stands.
AlexP 5:13PM (8/01/2007)
Are you doing everything you can to ignore recent product dev. at either Ford or GM?
Chrysler on the other hand... Jesus...
smartmlp 5:29PM (8/01/2007)
I hope you are joking, because if arn't you have some issues. The 2007 Saturn Aura is easily twice the car a Honda accord or Toyota Camry is, and the 2008 Malibu is based on the same platform and will be just as good. The newest generation Camry is an over priced ugly car, and is easily out classed by a similarly priced Aura that has more horsepower and standard features.
The problem here is that people are too afraid to go back to GM due to misconceptions that they are some evil company out to sell people crappy cars. GM's problem isn't so much they make cars that suck, their cars are rapidly improving and are a much better value then the once "value leaders" from japan. Hell, you cant even get a Civic anymore for under $15,000. Their problem is that they need to change their image, something that can be nearly impossible in some cases...
Yes, its true that GM did not make a good economy car or mid-size car in the 80s/90s (but hey, I havent seen a bad corvette generation yet :-P). But times change, and so has GM.