By the Numbers - September 2008: Nobody Wins Edition
by Chris Shunk on Oct 1st 2008 at 4:28PM 
We're not waiting for Suzuki to reveal its September 2008 sales results any longer, as it is highly unlikely that the little Japanese brand will arise as the only brand/automaker to post positive numbers this month. Take a good look below, as it's the first time since we started publishing sales data back in mid-2006 that every single brand and automaker is in the red. It doesn't matter how you slice it, whether you look at the change in volume from Sept. 2007 to Sept. 2008 or if you consider the change in the Daily Sales Rate. Everyone is down.For the record, we suppose Audi is this month's Biggest Winner with a sales drop of just 5.4%, while HUMMER is again our Biggest Loser with a 54.8% fall in sales. You can peruse the rest of the carnage below for yourself.
| BY THE NUMBERS - September 2008 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Vol. % Change | Total Sales 9/08 | Total Sales 9/07 | DSR % Change | Daily Avg. 9/08 | Daily Avg. 9/07 |
| Acura |
-30.4% |
9,997 | 14,369 | -27.5% | 417 | 515 |
| Audi | -5.4% | 7,584 | 8,020 | -1.5% | 316 | 321 |
| BMW | -29.5% | 14,744 | 20,901 | -26.5% | 614 | 836 |
| Buick | -20.5% | 14,121 | 17,754 | -17.1% | 588 | 710 |
| Cadillac | -39.1% | 12,432 | 20,398 | -36.5 | 518 | 816 |
| Chevrolet | -11.2% | 172,803 | 194,637 | -7.5% | 7,200 | 7,785 |
| Chrysler | -39.6% | 23,346 | 38,668 | -37.1% | 973 | 1,547 |
| Dodge | -25.2% | 62,572 | 83,671 | -22.1% | 2,607 | 3,347 |
| Ford | -33.8% | 102,685 | 155,037 | -31% | 4,279 | 6,201 |
| GMC | -12.8% | 39,029 | 44,754 | -9.2% | 1,626 | 1,790 |
| Honda | -23.2% | 86,629 | 112,831 | -20% | 3,610 | 4,513 |
| HUMMER | -54.8% | 2,298 | 5,080 | -52.9% | 96 | 203 |
| Hyundai | -25.4% | 24,765 | 33,214 | -22.3% | 1,032 | 1,329 |
| Infiniti | -24.1% | 7,779 | 10,250 | -20.9% | 324 | 410 |
| Jeep | -42.8% | 21,431 | 37,460 | -40.4% | 893 | 1,498 |
| Kia | -27.8% | 17,383 | 24,087 | -24.8% | 724 | 963 |
| Lexus | -36.1% | 16,045 | 25,113 | -33.4 | 669 | 1,005 |
| Lincoln | -22.5% | 7,571 | 9,764 | -19.2% | 315 | 391 |
| Mazda | -35.6% | 16,169 | 25,098 | -32.9% | 674 | 1,004 |
| Mercedes-Benz | -16.4% | 18,779 | 22,459 | -12.9% | 782 | 898 |
| Mercury | -43.2% | 6,478 | 11,403 | -40.1% | 270 | 456 |
| MINI | -6.7% | 3,762 | 4,031 | -2.8% | 157 | 161 |
| Mitsubishi | -39% | 7,378 | 12,102 | -36.5% | 307 | 484 |
| Nissan | -38.4% | 51,786 | 84,019 | -35.8% | 2,158 | 3,361 |
| Pontiac | -26.7% | 23,324 | 31,817 | -23.6% | 972 | 1,273 |
| Porsche | -44.8% | 1,458 | 2,641 | -42.5% | 61 | 106 |
| Saab | -27.2% | 1,765 | 2,424 | -24.2% | 74 | 97 |
| Saturn | -10.8% | 18,528 | 20,776 | -7.1% | 772 | 831 |
| Subaru | -11.9% | 14,491 | 16,457 | -8.3% | 604 | 658 |
| Suzuki | N/A | |||||
| Toyota | -31.8% | 128,215 | 187,929 | -28.9% | 5,342 | 7,517 |
| Volkswagen | -9.4% | 17,109 | 18,891 | -5.7% | 713 | 756 |
| Volvo | -51.8% | 4,054 | 8,408 | -49.8% | 169 | 336 |
| COMPANIES | ||||||
| BMW Group | -25.8% |
18,506 |
24,932 |
-22.7% |
771 |
997 |
| Chrysler LLC | -32.8% | 107,349 | 159,799 | -30% | 4,473 | 6,392 |
| FoMoCo | -34.6% | 120,788 | 184,612 | -31.8% | 5,033 | 7,384 |
| General Motors | -15.8% | 284,300 | 337,640 | -12.3% | 11,846 | 13,506 |
| Honda America | -24% |
96,626 |
127,200 |
-20.9% |
4,026 |
5,088 |
| Nissan NA | -36.8% | 59,565 | 94,269 | -34.2% | 2,482 | 3,771 |
| Toyota Mo Co | -32.3% |
144,260 | 213,042 | -29.5% | 6,011 | 8,522 |
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 5)
sbessette91 4:38PM (10/01/2008)
Whoa.
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Beat-it-nerd 4:42PM (10/01/2008)
That is just terrible...holy sh#t
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tbss_in_the_D 4:43PM (10/01/2008)
GM did not do all that bad compared to everyone else. I can not believe Honda took such a hit. Everyone has been saying that they are bulletproof the last few months.
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HotRodzNKustoms 4:48PM (10/01/2008)
Yeah if you can call anyone a winner it would be GM. Though it's still not a win...
stratojet 7:15PM (10/01/2008)
Must be because they could not get inventory. Same with Toyota. Lack of Prius.
This tells me that the Asian will be way more agressive with their promotions. This must be hell at Honda and Toyota Headquarters.
why not the LS2LS7? 4:45AM (10/02/2008)
Ahh, stratojet jumps in with the Honda apologies.
No, I'm sure Honda's big problem isn't getting enough cars, it's that people just aren't buying cars. People don't feel they have money to throw around, and on top of that it's tougher to get a loan or lease now.
The real answer is Honda isn't bulletproof either. They're suffering from a general downturn like everyone else.
tekd 7:47AM (10/02/2008)
If you read the financial newspapers most people believe that GM's relatively small decrease is because they extended employee pricing onto 2009 models, not just 2008 models. That's fairly out of the ordinary-to start putting incentives on cars that are brand new.
So while GM's numbers look relatively nice I'd say that Honda did the best amongst the manufacturers who didn't start heavily discounting 2009 model year cars.
GM is going to start a new round of incentives for October that will also apply to 2009 vehicles. I wonder whether the other manufacturers are going to start following suit and just start slapping $5000 on 2009 vehicles too.
dan spalinger 4:45PM (10/01/2008)
Wow....just....wow................
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zacharyzane 4:46PM (10/01/2008)
Thanks Mr. Bush
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John 4:51PM (10/01/2008)
Ya, it has ALOT to due with Bush. Moron.
TJ 4:51PM (10/01/2008)
Was Bush supposed to buy all the cars?
TJ 5:07PM (10/01/2008)
how about this....
138,893,908 taxpayers in 2007.
Average price of a new car: $26,930
ok.
138,893,908 * $26,930 = $3,740,412,942,440
I see a new bailout scam! Quick, get my socialist overlords on the phone.
Oh. You were trying to blame 1994 legislation (which led to the economic situation we face) on Bush. Just like the 1993 WTC bombings and the USS Cole bombings by Al Queda are also Bush's fault.
Put your partisan politics aside for one minute and realize that both D and R screwed this up. No one party holds the bag, they are all in the tank and we are all screwed.
Bad month. It happens. It's bound to happen in any market economy as fluctuations in long term trending happen. To blame Bush is retarded.
R Wiggler 7:23PM (10/01/2008)
The government could have bought a hell of a lot of GM vehicles with the money Bush pissed away in Iraq. It probably would have been a better investment even if they just crushed them. :)
Allan 5:16PM (10/01/2008)
No, McCain was supposed to buy them all.
BigMcLargeHuge 5:47PM (10/01/2008)
Congress has equal or greater oversight of budgets and the economics than the President.
The President is not the King. He can't single-handedly 'fix' the economy. Unfortunately looks like every moron in America is going to ignore that fact and elect a President based on economic promises.
Registering to vote should come with an IQ test. With one question on it. And the question should be whether or not economics are the sole responsibility of the Commander-in-Chief. Anyone who answers yes should be deemed too stupid to vote.
TJ 5:53PM (10/01/2008)
"Registering to vote should come with an IQ test. "
How about this:
Which political party is responsible for socioeconomic problems?
1) Republicans
2) Democrats
3) All of the Above
4) None of the above
Anyone who answers anything but #3 is instantly removed from the voter rolls.
McLovin 7:58PM (10/01/2008)
I think the (R)'s are more to blame. Real income, adjusted for inflation is down over the last 8 years. We have had two recessions since Bush took office. (I acknowledge that the current recession is debatable but nonetheless, a recession would have happend if the government hadn't pushed a bunch of money into the economy)
The republicans have been in control of both houses of congress for the vast majority of the last 10 years (all but 8 I believe). So if anyone can be blamed it would be the Republicans.
TJ 10:11AM (10/02/2008)
@ McLovin
"We have had two recessions since Bush took office."
The U.S. economy shrank in three non-consecutive quarters in the early 2000s; the third quarter of 2000, the first quarter of 2001, and the third quarter of 2001. Using the stock market as an unofficial benchmark, a recession would have begun in March 2000 when the NASDAQ crashed following the collapse of the Dot-com bubble. As stated before, stop blaming events that happened before January 2001 (inauguration day) on the current presidency.
"I acknowledge that the current recession is debatable"
Its ok, change the long-standing definition to fit your partisan worldview. If you believe it, its true!
"but nonetheless, a recession would have happend if the government hadn't pushed a bunch of money into the economy"
Thank GOD for the government giving us our own damn money back! but think of where that money *could* have been better spent! Like $243,000 in taxpayer dollars for the organization Chez Panisse to create gourmet organic school lunches in the Berkeley School District. Chez Panisse is dedicated to “environmental harmony” and their menu features “Comté cheese soufflé with mâche salad,” “Meyer lemon éclairs with huckleberry coulis,” and “Chicory salad with creamy anchovy vinaigrette and olive toast.” That is a much better use of our money.
"The republicans have been in control of both houses of congress for the vast majority of the last 10 years"
Yet, government spending increased at an alarming rate the last two....
"So if anyone can be blamed it would be the Republicans."
Partisan viewpoints abound, facts be damned.
They all got us here. They all are at fault. Big government caused this problem, bigger government will not solve this problem. But to pin legislation and economic events from the 1990's on Bush is retarded.
IOMTT 4:46PM (10/01/2008)
At least Suzuki and Honda are selling bikes!!!
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Grom 4:47PM (10/01/2008)
Porsche down 50 % !
Damn rich people are pulling back .
I think that the rest of the year will look just like that.
Car companies better start making cheap alternative cars ... something new, cool, maybe then the numbers will improve.
The only good thing about it is that gas is getting cheaper ... I can only imagine how bad it would be with 5$ gas.
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