By the Numbers - January 2009: Not So Happy New Year Edition
by John Neff on Feb 3rd 2009 at 5:03PM 
All the numbers are in for the first month of sales in 2009... and they aren't pretty. Chrysler LLC and General Motors continue to lead the pack with sales drops of 54.8% and 48.8%, respectively. While the overall economy is weak and access to credit limited, the fact that Americans watched both domestic automakers plead for and receive federal aid in December may have contributed to their particularly poor sales performance in January. Adding support to that theory is Ford Motor Company, which saw its sales fall only 40.2% last month, while Honda (-27.9%), Nissan (29.7%) and Toyota (-31.7%) all fared better though still experienced significantly lower sales.Despite dismal sales results from nearly the entire industry, there were two brands that did manage to post positive numbers. Kia sales were up 3% by volume, though its daily sales rate fell by 0.5%. Subaru also reported an impressive 8% gain in sales by volume, which makes it this month's Biggest Winner. The Biggest Loser this month, however, was the Chrysler brand, which reported a 68.9% fall in sales by volume (-70.1% DSR).
UPDATE: Corrected sales numbers for Hyundai, which actually reported a 14.3% rise in sales volume.
| BY THE NUMBERS - January 2009 |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Vol. % Change | Total Sales 1/09 | Total Sales 1/08 | DSR % Change | Daily Avg. 1/09 | Daily Avg. 1/08 |
 Acura |
-29.7% |
7,856 | 11,168 | -32.4% | 302 | 447 |
 Audi |
-26.4% | 4,722 | 6,418 | -29.3% | 182 | 257 |
 BMW |
-15.5% | 12,232 | 14,475 | -18.7% | 470 | 579 |
 Buick |
-45.3% | 6,969 | 12,749 | -47.4% | 268 | 510 |
 Cadillac |
-42.5% | 8,499 | 14,792 | -44.8% | 327 | 592 |
 Chevrolet |
-48.4% | 77,186 | 149,548 | -50.4% | 2,969 | 5,982 |
 Chrysler |
-68.9% | 10,685 | 34,372 | -70.1% | 411 | 1,375 |
 Dodge |
-50.4% | 34,638 | 69,884 | -52.3% | 1,332 | 2,795 |
 Ford |
-39.5% | 79,322 | 131,074 | -41.8% | 3,051 | 5,243 |
 GMC |
-40.8% | 19,120 | 32,270 | -43% | 735 | 1,291 |
 Honda |
-27.7% | 63,175 | 87,343 | -30.5% | 2,430 | 3,494 |
 HUMMER |
-59.9% | 1,222 | 3,050 | -61.5% | 47 | 122 |
 Hyundai |
14.3% | 24,512 | 21,452 | 9.9% | 943 | 858 |
 Infiniti |
-17.7% | 7,115 | 8,644 | -20.1% | 274 | 346 |
 Jeep |
-49.2% | 16,834 | 33,136 | -51.2% | 647 | 1,325 |
 Kia |
3.5% | 22,096 | 21,355 | -0.5% | 850 | 854 |
 Lexus |
-27.5% | 14,722 | 20,299 | -30.3% | 566 | 812 |
 Lincoln |
-23.7% | 6,091 | 7,985 | -26.7% | 234 | 319 |
 Mazda |
-27.3% | 15,420 | 21,212 | -30.1% | 593 | 848 |
 Mercedes |
-42.9% | 10,433 | 18,275 | -45.1% | 401 | 731 |
 Mercury |
-44.2% | 5,183 | 9,296 | -46.4% | 199 | 372 |
 MINI |
-15.4% | 2,082 | 2,460 | -18.6% | 80 | 98 |
 Mitsubishi |
-34.5% | 4,730 | 7,226 | -37.0% | 182 | 289 |
 Nissan |
-31.2% | 46,769 | 67,961 | -33.8% | 1,799 | 2,718 |
 Pontiac |
-60.5% | 9,104 | 23,025 | -62% | 350 | 921 |
 Porsche |
-36.1% | 1,658 | 2,595 | -38.6% | 64 | 104 |
 Saab |
-46.1% | 955 | 1,772 | -48.2% | 37 | 71 |
 Saturn |
-59.8% | 6,172 | 15,359 | -61.4% | 237 | 614 |
 Subaru |
8.0% | 12,194 | 11,289 | 3.9% | 469 | 452 |
 Suzuki |
-48.7% | 3,655 | 7,120 | -50.6% | 141 | 285 |
 Toyota |
-32.3% | 102,565 | 151,550 | -34.9% | 3,945 | 6,062 |
 VW |
-11.6% | 12,744 | 14,412 | -15.0% | 490 | 576 |
 Volvo |
-63.8% | 2,910 | 8,036 | -65.2% | 112 | 321 |
| COMPANIES | ||||||
| BMW Group | -15.5% |
14,314 |
16,935 |
-18.7% |
551 |
677 |
| Chrysler LLC | -54.8% | 62,157 | 137,392 | -56.5% | 2,391 | 5,496 |
| FoMoCo | -40.2% | 93,506 | 156,391 | -42.5% | 3,596 | 6,256 |
| General Motors | -48.8% | 129,227 | 252,565 | -50.8% | 4,970 | 10,102 |
| Honda America | -27.9% |
71,031 |
98,511 |
-30.7% |
2,732 |
3,940 |
| Nissan NA | -29.7% | 53,884 | 76,605 | -32.4% | 2,072 | 3,064 |
| Toyota Mo Co | -31.7% |
117,287 | 171,849 | -34.4% | 4,511 | 6,874 |
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
F-22 5:09PM (2/03/2009)
Oh Volvo Volvo...things are getting (really) complicated...
Reply
Gregor A 6:08PM (2/03/2009)
Yeah, Volvo picked the wrong time to reduce incentives. I guess they figured we would be too giddy over the new year to notice.
IowaSuby 5:10PM (2/03/2009)
What really makes a Subaru, LOVE and positive sales numbers.
Reply
IowaSuby 5:11PM (2/03/2009)
makes a subaru a subaru
*sigh* why can't we edit our posts?
Sandeep 8:01PM (2/03/2009)
and a new Forester
KA 5:40AM (2/06/2009)
Well, Subaru's in a good spot. They're the type of car people buy to last forever, which is what people will go for during a recession. Urbanites and rural folk alike seem to buy them for the utility.
Then on the other end, you have people buying WRX's, and those seem to be mostly young mid-to-late-20's engineer-type males. They're not going to change their spending habits because they don't need to.
I think there's also more trust in the brand since GM no longer has a stake in them.
tanooki2003 5:10PM (2/03/2009)
Ooooooh That's gotta hurt!
Reply
Jason 5:11PM (2/03/2009)
WOW! Chrysler down 69%? Them chickens are coming home to roost. Better buy stock in Kia.
Reply
XJ 8:17PM (2/03/2009)
What a difference a year makes...
1/2008
Chrysler: 34,372 Hyundai: 21,452
1/2009
Chrysler: 10,685 Hyundai: 24,512
Kitko 8:22PM (2/03/2009)
For a past few years... it was always a much better option...
Logan Irons 5:12PM (2/03/2009)
Really like the new format
Reply
mikeyt 5:35PM (2/03/2009)
yeah, good work autoblog =)
zamafir 6:21PM (2/03/2009)
agreed!
StickShift 5:13PM (2/03/2009)
Bravo to Subaru. I'm curious if the snowy conditions across most of the country through January helped any.
Reply
Dave T. 5:25PM (2/03/2009)
It was new Forester sales. But being the Cheapest AWD compact SUV on the market probably helped during bad weather.
Richard 7:40PM (2/03/2009)
I submit that it is would-have-been Explorer-and-the-like buyers looking for something efficient with the go-anywhere security of AWD and great content for the $$.
Ligor 9:58AM (2/04/2009)
how come everyone is congrating subaru, when Hyundai made an even bigger jump,
I guess thoe from Explorers found the Hyundai SUV's with AWD even better than those of Subaru.
I like to give credit to both of them. when the whole market saw an almost %50 drop to even be at 0% is great, to gain take a lot more work. good job to both
turbo-quattro 5:14PM (2/03/2009)
check the labels on your table. you are supposedly comparing january 09 with january 09, i think one(in most cases the higher number) should be january 08.
thats for both total sales and daily average
Reply
KC 5:16PM (2/03/2009)
I take it the 4th column should be 1/08 and the 7th column be 1/08 as well?.. kind of a silly chart as it's presented ;p
Reply
JZeke 5:17PM (2/03/2009)
Now with badge icons! yay!
Reply