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 3 of 5)
IOMTT 4:47PM (10/01/2008)
oh and BMW is selling bikes also.
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jjpg2000 4:48PM (10/01/2008)
Go GM that employee pricing really helped. Being down only 15.8/12.3%, really isn't that bad when compared to the other company wide stats.
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HotRodzNKustoms 4:49PM (10/01/2008)
Nobody is safe
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FrankRizzo 4:56PM (10/01/2008)
So I'm in the market to buy..I imagine this is good news for me. I'm now just waiting to see what kind of deals this month might bring...
Sean Morris 4:53PM (10/01/2008)
Ugly... but hey..Nissan sold 421 GT-R's last month..
http://2009gtr.blogspot.com/2008/10/gt-r-sales-in-september-421-units.html
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IOMTT 4:53PM (10/01/2008)
Market share means squat if you have no margin. GM has been the global leader in market share yet loses $$$. Sales volume is not going to save you, money (profit) must be made and that is the challenge.
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Brad 4:58PM (10/01/2008)
You don't see that much blood at some horror movies. Yikes!!
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David 5:06PM (10/01/2008)
There is a perfect story for the auto industry right now. Wildly unstable gas prices, economic recession, and a credit crunch have made a car purchase the last thing most people want to do. The biggest factor, in my opinion, is gas prices. What vehicle do you buy if gas goes to $5 or more a gallon this winter or next year?
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David 5:08PM (10/01/2008)
Ooops. Perfect storm.
Travis Rassat 5:43PM (10/01/2008)
In addition to the gas prices, I imagine tighter credit control is also going to make it harder for people to buy cars, too. A lot of people are going to be forced to live with what they have a little bit longer.
Remus 5:24PM (10/01/2008)
I guess it's good news for the consumer. Do the manufacturers ever wonder if they've reached their selling point and can't sell any more cars. People can only buy so much. It's not like we need a new car every year.
I think it's good that they're doing bad. Maybe they can start lowering prices instead of raising every year.
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Hershey Lover 5:15PM (10/01/2008)
The bottom has fell out.
When Honda sales collapse 24% you have a problem.
I've read somewhere that this drop in sales would amount to 12 million cars sold this year. Yikes.
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Jtnab 5:17PM (10/01/2008)
GMC didnt do that bad for a truck only company.
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CG 5:27PM (10/01/2008)
GM kicked everyone's ass. Sort of.
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Travis Rassat 5:39PM (10/01/2008)
I'm kind of surprised they still sold 2,298 Hummers. At this point, anything greater than 0 kind of surprises me.
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Darlos 6:09PM (10/01/2008)
I wonder how many of those hummers were sold to the military? Or if that is counted in this report.
Travis Rassat 6:22PM (10/01/2008)
That's a good point and a good question. I have no idea, but that would make sense if it were true.
alex 8:16PM (10/01/2008)
they don't sell any to the military. you really think military personel cruise around in H2s with big rims?
real humvees (what the military has) aren't made by GM
Holden Miecranc 10:57PM (10/01/2008)
What;s more comical is that GM sold more Hummers than Saabs.
Chris 5:59PM (10/01/2008)
Simple really, the leasing market imploded.
Toss in that many of the biggest losers are low mileage vehicle heavy and it becomes even more apparent the issues that face the industry.
I really believe people under estimated just how much the leasing market counted towards new car sales.
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