Filed under: By the Numbers
By the Numbers - August 2008: New Digs Edition
by John Neff on Sep 3rd 2008 at 4:23PM 
Check it out. We've completely revamped By the Numbers to convey more sales information than before in a much easier to digest way. Now we'll be reporting both the change in monthly sales volume for each brand and automaker as well as the change in their Daily Sales Rate or average number of vehicles sold per day. On to the armchair analysis... Poor sales continued through the month of August as only a handful of brands are able to brag about increased sales. Nissan North America bucked the trend entirely reporting a 13.6% gain for the combined brands of Nissan and Infiniti with each marque reporting its own individual increases. Credit goes to VW (2.9%), as well, which posted a solid number, and the BMW Group (1.0%), which barely earned a positive increase in sales thanks to a strong 34.1% increase in MINI sales.
While GM (-20.4%), FoMoCo (-25.6%) and Chrysler LLC (-34.5%) sales were all down in a big way, Toyota MoCo and Honda America were also not immune falling 9.4% and 7.3%, respectively. In this environment, brands should consider a single-digit drop a small victory considering the majority of brands that fell by 10% or more.
| BY THE NUMBERS - August 2008 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Vol. | Total Vol. 8/08 | Total Vol. 8/07 | DSR | Daily avg 8/08 | Daily avg 8/07 |
| Acura |
-8.2% | 15,089 | 16,436 | -8.2% | 559 | 609 |
| Audi | -15.9% | 6,406 | 7,620 | -15.9% | 237 | 282 |
| BMW | -4.1% | 25,462 | 26,562 | -4.1% | 943 | 984 |
| Buick | -7.7% | 17,833 | 19,324 | -7.7% | 660 | 716 |
| Cadillac | -20.9% | 15,405 | 19,481 | -20.9% | 571 | 722 |
| Chevrolet | -19.2% | 185,080 | 229,012 | -19.2% | 6,855 | 8,482 |
| Chrysler | -44.2% | 24,337 | 43,650 | -44.2% | 901 | 1,617 |
| Dodge | -24.6% | 62,422 | 82,841 | -24.6% | 2,312 | 3,068 |
| Ford | -26.2% | 133,088 | 180,282 | -26.1% | 4,929 | 6,677 |
| GMC | -17.6% | 42,194 | 51,222 | -17.6% | 1,563 | 1,897 |
| Honda | -7.2% | 131,766 | 141,906 | -7.2% | 4,880 | 5,256 |
| HUMMER | -62% | 2,160 | 5,677 | -62% | 80 | 210 |
| Hyundai | -8.8% | 41,130 | 45,087 | -8.8% | 1,523 | 1,670 |
| Infiniti | 8.0% | 11,076 | 10,252 | 8.0% | 410 | 378 |
| Jeep | -43.7% | 23,476 | 41,712 | -43.7% | 869 | 1,545 |
| Kia | -6.7% | 25,065 | 26,874 | -6.7% | 928 | 995 |
| Lexus | -9.1% | 29,281 | 32,199 | -9.1% | 1,084 | 1,193 |
| Lincoln | -8.5% | 9,540 | 10,423 | -8.5% | 353 | 386 |
| Mazda | -4.4% | 23,680 | 24,762 | -4.4% | 877 | 917 |
| Mercedes-Benz | -11.8% | 18,507 | 20,980 | -11.8% | 685 | 777 |
| Mercury | -31.7% | 8,393 | 12,296 | -31.7% | 311 | 455 |
| MINI | 34.1% | 5,469 | 4,077 | 34.1% | 203 | 151 |
| Mitsubishi | -29.3% | 9,200 | 13,020 | -29.3% | 341 | 482 |
| Nissan | 14.2% | 97,417 | 85,275 | 14.2% | 3,608 | 3,158 |
| Pontiac | -38.3% | 24,257 | 39,324 | -38.3% | 898 | 1,456 |
| Porsche | -44.9% | 1,404 | 2,548 | -44.9% | 52 | 94 |
| Saab | -50.1% | 1,503 | 3,011 | -50.1% | 56 | 112 |
| Saturn | -3.5% | 20,385 | 21,117 | -3.5% | 755 | 782 |
| Subaru | 14.2% | 18,932 | 16,573 | 14.2% | 701 | 614 |
| Suzuki | -31.7% | 6,083 | 8,916 | -31.7% | 225 | 330 |
| Toyota | -9.4% | 182,252 | 201,272 | -9.4% | 6,750 | 7,455 |
| Volkswagen | 2.9% | 22,292 | 21,655 | 2.9% | 826 | 802 |
| Volvo | -48.8% | 4,669 | 9,119 | -48.8% | 173 | 338 |
| COMPANIES | ||||||
| BMW Group | 1% | 30,931 | 30,639 | 1% | 1,146 | 1,135 |
| Chrysler LLC | -34.5% | 110,235 | 168,203 | -34.5% | 4,083 | 6,230 |
| FoMoCo | -25.6% | 151,021 | 203,001 | -25.6% | 5,593 | 7,519 |
| General Motors | -20.4% | 308,817 | 388,168 | -20.4% | 11,438 | 14,377 |
| Honda America | -7.3% | 146,855 | 158,342 | -7.3% | 5,439 | 5,864 |
| Nissan NA | 13.6% | 108,493 | 95,527 | 13.6% | 4,018 | 3,538 |
| Toyota Mo Co | -9.4% | 211,533 | 233,471 | -9.4% | 7,835 | 8,647 |
UPDATE: Audi added and Subaru's sales figures corrected.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Joe 4:30PM (9/03/2008)
Small typo in the last row of the table, "Toyoya" - just bringing it to your attention.
:)
Reply
John Neff 4:55PM (9/03/2008)
Fixed. Thanks!
stevereportdotcom 4:32PM (9/03/2008)
Mini numbers don't surprise me. Good looking cars with good MPG numbers. Its a "cool" looking car with good gas consumption.
Reply
Andrew Tanasescu 4:33PM (9/03/2008)
Where Jaguar? Ive been seeing Xf's everywhere around me. Im curious to see how they are doing...
and what a horrible month for Porsche...
Reply
John Neff 4:57PM (9/03/2008)
Both Jaguar and Land Rover sales figures have been practically IMPOSSIBLE to track down ever since Ford sold them to Tata. Let us know if you track them down somewhere and we'll add them.
Quan 8:13PM (9/03/2008)
I was thinking the same thing. I couldn't believe how drastically Porsche sales dropped. Bad times for the auto industry indeed.
Rainy99 4:35PM (9/03/2008)
Hummer. Ouch.
Reply
Andrew Tanasescu 4:45PM (9/03/2008)
Ouch?
Its no surprise to me. The offer the H2 which remains mostly unchanged since 2003 and the H3. Both have pretty lousy mileage to say the least. Im actually surprised they managed to sell 2160 cars this past month.
jamie 12:26PM (9/04/2008)
I wonder what HUMMER sales will be like after the introduction of the H3T?
My pop says he wants one, but is kind of peeved that GM is selling HUMMER. He used to be a confirmed Oldsmobile addict. Now this really hurts.
Soccer Mom 4:36PM (9/03/2008)
Wow, Swedes along with Chrysler/Jeep almost doing as bad as Hummer.
Reply
Joe 4:43PM (9/03/2008)
Nope, that would be GM. ;)
MemphisNET 5:00PM (9/03/2008)
Keep in mind Chrysler dropped 4 vehicles and pretty much stopped fleet sales. Will take a while until those numbers look better
blogged to death 6:03PM (9/03/2008)
Chrysler definitely did not drop fleet sales - so that cannot be the excuse for 34% drop - remember Chrysler had to stop leasing all together b/c the resale value (residuals) on their cars are much worse than they expected - especially when SUV/Trucks were their biggest sellers. Nope Chrysler's numbers are that bad and there's nothing they can blame it on except poor product and leadership and high cost of product b/c of uncompetitive wages, structure, etc.
Jeff 4:41PM (9/03/2008)
On Chevrolet and the other US brands, it would be interesting to see the sales figures excluding trucks and SUV's. I wonder how their car sales are holding up? My guess is the smaller more fuel efficient cars and the mid size cars are holding their own, it's the bottom falling out of the truck and suv market that is hurting them.
Reply
knifetramp 5:48PM (9/03/2008)
+1 excellent question!
Kitko 9:15AM (9/04/2008)
http://www.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html
Here's your numbers breakdown
Sandeep 4:42PM (9/03/2008)
Why don't you guys list Hyundai as a 'company', to encompass Kia and Hyundai?
Reply
John Neff 4:56PM (9/03/2008)
The main reason is because Hyundai and Kia don't release their numbers together, whereas all of the companies listed as such do.
Rick 4:43PM (9/03/2008)
Err/Um..
I'm confused.. Where's Audi in the list of Brands?
(and Lambo, Ferrari, Bentley, etc.)
Where's VAG in the list of Companies?
Oh, and the last column is cut off for me.. with Firefox..
Reply
John Neff 4:55PM (9/03/2008)
Sorry, Audi got left off in the transition. Added now.