By the Numbers June 2008: Not That Bad Edition
You're going to be reading in the mainstream press about how horrible sales were in the U.S. during June, 2008. Yes, they were bad for many automakers, but consider that there were only 24 selling days last month versus 27 days in June, 2007. This makes comparing raw sales numbers misleading, since there were three fewer days to sell. Thus, as always, all the percentages below represent the change in Daily Sales Rate, i.e. the average number of vehicles sold per day, not the change in raw number of vehicles sold.The big news is how hard Toyota fell last month, its DSR dropping 11.5% as a whole while the Toyota brand itself fell 10.3%. Cross-island rival Honda, however, bucked that trend by improving its DSR a whopping 13.8% and 17.9% for the Honda brand alone. Among the domestics, General Motors fared best with its DSR falling only 8.3%. If you look closely at the list below, while HUMMER, Saab and GMC were down in the big double digits, GM's volume brands held their own and most were down less than 5%. Ford, meanwhile, dropped its DSR by 19.1% (note this is the first month Jaguar and Land Rover sales were not included in Ford's numbers), and Chrysler, LLC, which performed the worst, saw its DSR plunge 28%. As you can see, however, many brands found a way to make it work in June, with Audi, MINI, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Suzuki and Volkswagen all up in a big way.
Biggest Winner
MINI
40.5% at 5,211 (6/07: 4,174)Biggest Loser
HUMMER
–54.2% at 2,072 (6/07: 5,093)BRANDS
Acura
–16.4% at 12,456 (6/07: 16,766)Audi
18.5% at 8,203 (6/07: 7,789)BMW
–6.6% at 20,944 (6/07: 25,220)Buick
–34.4% at 9,631 (6/07: 16,519)Cadillac
–3.1% at 14,337 (6/07: 16,647)Chevrolet
–3.5% at 159,998 (6/07: 186,474)Chrysler
–36% at 27,128 (6/07: 47,658)Dodge
–21.3% at 63,687 (6/07: 91,089)Ford
–19.8% at 145,715 (6/07: 204,303)GMC
–14.6% at 30,713 (6/07: 40,457)Honda
17.9% at 130,083 (6/07: 124,169)HUMMER
–54.2% at 2,072 (6/07: 5,093)Hyundai
14% at 50,033 (6/07: 49,368)Infiniti
–0.9% at 9,304 (6/07: 10,558)Jeep
–32.8% at 26,642 (6/07: 44,600)Kia
21% at 28,292 (6/07: 26,288)Lexus
–21% at 20,253 (6/07: 28,869)Lincoln
–12.5% at 9,718 (6/07: 12,494)Mazda
3.8% at 23,771 (6/07: 25,761)Mercedes-Benz
12.4% at 19,576 (6/07: 19,589)Mercury
–16.3% at 11,657 (6/07: 15,660)MINI
40.5% at 5,211 (6/07: 4,174)Mitsubishi
–35.2% at 7,494 (6/07: 13,014)Nissan
–8.3% at 66,543 (6/07: 81,655)Pontiac
–5.1% at 28,402 (6/07: 33,683)Porsche
–8.7% at 2,650 (6/07: 3,267)Saab
–51.7% at 1,872 (6/07: 4,361)Saturn
–1.9% at 18,912 (6/07: 21,686)Subaru
18.4% at 18,007 (6/07: 17,108)Suzuki
6.6% at 9,785 (6/07: 10,325)Toyota
–10.3% at 172,981 (6/07: 216,870)Volkswagen
12.8% at 23,208 (6/07: 23,137)Volvo
–17.7% at 7,001 (6/07: 9,572)Not Yet Reported
Jaguar
Land Rover
COMPANIES
BMW Group
0.1% at 26,155 (6/07: 29,394)Chrysler Group
–28% at 117,457 (6/07: 183,347)Ford Motor Co
–19.1% at 167,090 (6/07: 232,457)General Motors
–8.3% at 265,937 (6/07: 326,300)Honda America
13.8% at 142,539 (6/07: 140,935)Nissan North America
–7.5% at 75,847 (6/07: 92,213)Toyota Motor Co.
–11.5% at 193,234 (6/07: 245,739)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Robert 5:35PM (7/01/2008)
Top Tier Automakers - BMW Group and Honda.
Reply
Reality_Check 10:50PM (7/01/2008)
Uhm Mercedes-Benz (UP)12.4% at 19,576
(6/07: 19,589)
So they sold almost 30 vehicles more than last year, yet they are up 12.4%?
Autoblog should be more serious about its content, i shouldn't be reading obvious mistakes, you are all professionals and you're only job is to make sure your post is accurate, is that so hard? So Jhon, i like your posts and all, but come on, at least read them.
Second
the biggest loser is GM in general, with 2 brands with more than 50% less cars sold than previous years:
Saab –51.7% at 1,872 (6/07: 4,361)
HUMMER –54.2% at 2,072 (6/07: 5,093)
John Neff 1:22AM (7/02/2008)
Reality Check, please reread the first paragraph. The percentages represent the change in the Daily Sales Rate, i.e. the average number of cars sold per day, not the percentage change in raw number of vehicles sold per month. Selling 30 more cars in three less days means Mercedes-Benz sold more cars per day, and thus increased its Daily Sales Rate.
Robert 5:36PM (7/01/2008)
Do you realize how much profit BMW makes on a MINI purchase? Up 40%! Put Mercedes-Benz in the Top 3 as well.
The losers of all time - Ford and Chrysler. What junk.
GM - dump 90% of the brands and keep Chevy / Cadillac and there you go.
Reply
HotRodzNKustoms 5:45PM (7/01/2008)
Chevy, Cadillac, Saturn, Hummer and Buick are all well defined brands. Buick and Hummer both need to be revamped.
GMC has it's place in the world because it has always had it's place in the world now offering a softer more conservative body style to Chevy.
Pontiac has a chance to become the importer of Holden Oz vehicles like Saturn has become importer of GM Europe products from Opel/Vauxhaul.
halogenrepublic 8:50PM (7/01/2008)
BMW doesn't make much from MINI sales
Hike15 9:56PM (7/01/2008)
gm should really just dump Buick and hummer
Pontiac has use of importing the Australian vehicles, and Saturn the European ones
G-Meister 11:17PM (7/01/2008)
It gets old, hearing posters jammering on about how GM should dump several brands, Saturn in particular. They posted the smallest losses of any American brand. Surely, they should be put out of their misery (what?)
Upthewazzu 5:39PM (7/01/2008)
Anyone want to buy my '05 Lancer before Mitsu folds and the floor drops out of the resale value?
Reply
Deutchland 5:13AM (7/07/2008)
Interestingly enough, one of the largest holders of auto dealerships in souther California is closing their Mitsubishi dealership to open a Mazda dealer in its place. My friend works for the owner, he said that "Mitsubishi is probably going to withdraw from the US market in a big way." I don't think he meant entirely, but they just don't have the sales to facilitate their operation at all. Plus, the damn EVO X is like 40 grand. WTF???
HotRodzNKustoms 5:41PM (7/01/2008)
I'm amazed how hot Mini is right now, I just sold my 03 Mini S, which I hated, drove it for 10k miles and made $1k selling it to a dealer! And can someone run me through the math on how BMW netted growth?
Reply
Omer 6:03PM (7/01/2008)
i know its off topic but why did you hate the Mini S?
HotRodzNKustoms 6:11PM (7/01/2008)
The build quality wasn't all too hot windows were maladjusted from the factory and it rattled more than any newish car I have had in recent years, it didn't handle like I expected a small car to (I think it was the FWD), the shifter felt rubbery and unnatural, it needed taller gearing, only got 24mpg mostly freeway, and the worst part was the dealer service. I'll never buy another BMW/Mini product just because the dealer service was horrible. On the up side the car did hold it's value and it was very very pretty.
Dinger 9:02PM (7/01/2008)
You bought a car, put ten thousand miles on it, and you don't even know if it's FWD or not?
Consider you opinion of automobiles to be hereby, and forever more, rendered meaningless.
Chris 6:34PM (7/01/2008)
Hot?
Look at its volume, its not hot. Just doing better than the previous year which wasn't good. Anything would have been better than the previous year. Plus they have the clubman now which is where sales are going
Richard 7:41PM (7/01/2008)
I had a friend with a Cooper S. At 2 years old, many of the switches were broken, the windows didn't close and the passenger-side door only opened from the outside.
Glad to see that the Bavarians have kept much of the original's British charm.
Richard 7:46PM (7/01/2008)
I had a friend with an original (BMW) Cooper S. At 2 years old, many of the switches were broken, the windows didn't roll up correctly and the passenger door could only be opened from the outside - further exascerbating the window issue.
Now, this gentleman is a tea-totaler and pretty calm driver. He actually owned an original, Issigonis-designed Mini.
Both he and I were happy to see that the Bavarians had kept the best parts of British automotive charm.
LloydChiro 8:00PM (7/01/2008)
Richard, care to post another revision of your comment?
HotRodzNKustoms 9:22PM (7/01/2008)
@Dinger:
You misunderstand what I said or I didn't put it across very well. I think the car handled in a way I disliked because it is FWD.
nom de plume 5:56AM (7/02/2008)
Dealer service does indeed suck (that was true of my M5 as well). They rattle and build quality is marginal. But they handle brilliantly and are much easier to drive at the limit than a RWD car. The auto industry sold consumers on the advantages of front-wheel drive; now they are pushing rear wheel drive again. "Trade em in boys, this year you need 400hp and RWD".