By the Numbers - February 2009: Wish It Were A Leap Year Edition
by John Neff on Mar 3rd 2009 at 4:27PM 
One more day in February wouldn't have done much to salvage yet another bad month of sales for the U.S. auto industry, but it wouldn't have hurt. All of the big automakers saw sales down around 40% or more last month compared to February 2008. Chrysler Co. (-44%), Ford Motor Company (-48.4%) and General Motors (-52.9%) again took the brunt of it, but Toyota (-39.8%), Honda (-38%) and Nissan (-37%) weren't far behind. This just goes to show that the argument about U.S. domestic automakers not selling what people want to buy is bogus, as people just aren't buying across the board. That said, the same brands that sold well in January have pulled out another one in February. The Koreans both did relatively well with Hyundai down just 1.5% (its Daily Average Sales rate was up 2.6%) and Kia up 0.4% in sales. Subaru, meanwhile, was up a solid 1.4% in sales last month.
What are these brands doing that the others aren't? In Subaru's case, the redesigned Forester is selling like mad, up 107% last month with 5,978 units sold. Hyundai has an extra 1,263 units sold thanks to the all-new Genesis, but the Accent, Elantra and Entourage were all up, as well. Kia, meanwhile, got strong performances from the Amanti (!), Sorento and Sedona, as well as a 341 new Borregos sold last month. A combination of new models, attractive incentives and sales people who are better with the pitch than the next guy are probably all contributing to how well these brands are weathering the U.S. recession.
| BY THE NUMBERS - February 2009 |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Vol. % Change | Total Sales 2/09 | Total Sales 2/08 | DSR % Change | Daily Avg. 2/09 | Daily Avg. 2/08 |
 Acura |
-41.5% |
7,659 | 13,084 | -39.0% | 319 |
523 |
 Audi |
-24.4% | 4,653 | 6,152 | -21.2% | 194 | 246 |
 BMW |
-37.5% | 12,979 | 20,775 | -34.9% | 541 | 831 |
 Buick |
-51.5% | 6,196 | 12,768 | -49.5% | 258 | 511 |
 Cadillac |
-52.2% | 4,666 | 9,760 | -50.2% | 194 | 390 |
 Chevrolet |
-54.5% | 75,555 | 166,166 | -52.6% | 3,148 | 6,647 |
 Chrysler |
-62.8% |
15,519 |
41,709 |
-61.2% |
647 |
1,668 |
 Dodge |
-38.8% |
46,590 |
76,141 |
-32.3% |
1,941 |
3,046 |
 Ford |
-48.8% | 84,422 | 164,915 | -46.7% | 3,518 | 6,597 |
 GMC |
-51.2% | 16,204 | 33,237 | -49.2% | 675 | 1,329 |
 Honda |
-37.5% | 63,916 | 102,313 | -34.9% | 2,663 | 4,093 |
 HUMMER |
-68.7% | 1,053 | 3,362 | -67.4% | 44 | 134 |
 Hyundai |
-1.5% | 30,621 | 31,090 | 2.6% | 1,276 | 1,244 |
 Infiniti |
-36.8% |
6,359 |
10,068 |
-34.2% |
265 |
403 |
 Jeep |
-32.0% |
21,941 |
32,243 |
-29.1% |
914 |
1,290 |
 Kia |
0.4% |
22,073 |
21,988 |
4.6% |
920 |
880 |
 Lexus |
-38.4% |
13,108 |
21,277 |
-35.8% |
546 |
851 |
 Lincoln |
-41.2% | 5,633 | 9,573 | -38.7% | 235 | 383 |
 Mazda |
-30.4% |
16,401 |
23,548 |
-27.4% |
683 |
942 |
 Mercedes |
-23.5% |
14,199 |
18,564 |
-20.3% |
592 |
743 |
 Mercury |
-44.6% | 5,989 | 10,806 | -42.3% | 250 | 432 |
 MINI |
-17.2% | 2,826 | 3,415 | -13.8% | 118 | 137 |
 Mitsubishi |
-50.8% |
4,484 |
9,105 |
-48.7% |
187 |
364 |
 Nissan |
-37.1% |
47,890 |
76,151 |
-34.5% |
1,995 |
3,046 |
 Pontiac |
-40.7% | 14,200 | 23,935 | -38.2% | 592 | 957 |
 Porsche |
-11.5% | 1,518 | 1,715 | -7.8% | 63 | 69 |
 Saab |
-62.8% | 482 | 1,295 | -61.2% | 20 | 52 |
 Saturn |
-57.2% | 6,338 | 14,801 | -55.4% | 264 | 592 |
 Subaru |
1.4% |
13,089 |
12,906 |
5.6% |
545 |
516 |
 Suzuki |
-60.3% | 3,495 | 8,800 | -58.6% | 146 | 352 |
 Toyota |
-40.0% |
96,475 |
160,892 |
-37.5% |
4,020 |
6,436 |
 VW |
-17.5% |
13,660 |
16,556 |
-14.0% |
569 |
662 |
 Volvo |
-55.3% | 3,356 | 7,505 | -53.4% | 140 | 300 |
| COMPANIES | ||||||
| BMW Group | -34.7% | 15,805 | 24,190 | -31.9% | 659 | 968 |
| Chrysler LLC | -44.0% |
84,050 |
150,093 |
-41.7% |
3,502 |
6,004 |
| FoMoCo | -48.4% | 99,400 | 192,799 | -46.3% | 4,142 | 7,711 |
| General Motors | -52.9% | 127,296 | 270,423 | -51.0% | 5,304 | 10,817 |
| Honda America | -38.0% | 71,575 | 115,397 | -35.4% | 2,982 | 4,616 |
| Nissan NA | -37.0% |
54,249 |
86,219 |
-34.5% |
2,260 |
3,449 |
| Toyota Mo Co | -39.8% |
109,583 |
182,169 |
-37.3% |
4,566 |
7,287 |
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
HotRodzNKustoms 4:33PM (3/03/2009)
This makes you want to cry.
Reply
Flashpoint 8:37PM (3/03/2009)
-------------This just goes to show that the argument about U.S. domestic automakers not selling what people want to buy is bogus, as people just aren't buying across the board-------------
I NEVER BELIEVED ANYTHING THOSE RETARDED CONSERVATIVES AND REPUBLICANS WERE SAYING.
Thank You autoblog for addressing this.
The BAILOUTS aren't just the Big 3 either. Its every country except Sweden as far as I can see. Honda damn near threatened to leave Japan - the Yen is down to 98Y - $1. When I was last living in Tokyo, shinjuku Ku - the Yen was 113 - $1. THE ENTIRE WORLD IS ON FIRE RIGHT NOW.
You'd be stupid to believe anything coming from the right wing when all they are trying to do is BREAK THE BACKS OF OUR UNIONS so they can privatie everything and be able to lay people off without pensions...
Ownership society means - WORK TILL YOU DIE...like in China. I lived there and to tell you the truth, our people aren't far from being like the Chinese if you let the right wing take over. I call upon the same vote that got Obama his win to help me destroy conservatism ONCE AND FOR ALL.
imirk 8:45PM (3/03/2009)
calm down flash point everything will be ok, they are on the way with your meds right now..
Personal Accountability 10:11PM (3/03/2009)
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight, it's all the Republicans fault. No Left Wing Liberals are too blame - huh Lets got off the Left or Right bandwagon and realize that its everybody's fault, Wallstreet, the banks, and yes - even including Joe Public who mortgaged the crap out of their $550K home that has a realistic value of $270K just to park that brand new BMW and Hummer on the driveway to impress the neighbors.
CarbonBlack 10:35PM (3/03/2009)
Flashpoint,
To be frank, both sides are to blame!
snp 11:09PM (3/03/2009)
Doesnt this piss you off? GM/Ford/Honda/Nissan boosted incentives by 5-10% for feb. Toyota boosted incentives by 60-70% and they are asking Japan for a bailout. CHRYSLER boosted incentives by 40% on american tax dollars. What the hell? WHAT THE HELL?!?!? We give money to Chrysler and they "give" it to consumers, then Cerberus can hedge their losses in sales! You cant even defend that. Anybody who is buying a Chrysler vehicle after 2008 is a prick. Cerberus will continue to cut american jobs, lower quality, lower safety, lower resale and then sell off Chrysler to a foreign firm after they suck every dollar out of them.
And to all of you who didnt go to Ford/GM to buy american, who didnt go to Toyonda/Ford to buy quality/green, who didnt go to Toyonda/Ford/HyundaiKia to buy innovation, who didnt buy foreign for luxury - SCREW YOU.
Why would anybody buy Chrysler? What the hell do they have that any other company doesnt? My tax dollars are going straight into bailout money for Chrysler. My auto stock shares are getting hit directly because people bought Chrysler and instead of any other company. The roads are less safe because costs for chrysler cars have been cut down past the bone. And all the retards who bought Chrysler will see your resale value drop by 50% after next year. @$$holes, way to go and screw this country over a little bit more.
tekd 11:14PM (3/03/2009)
I think plenty of Americans are partially to blame for all this mess. And even past individuals it's also that individualistic greed-driven stuff is kinda promoted in our culture. Whether you wanted to get rich by buying real estate, or by selling more mortgages, or by reselling those mortgages to investors, or by selling more cars to people who were already underwater on an existing car loan, or a bazillion other things people did hoping to get rich.
I'd say I blame the Bush Republicans mostly for having racked up a huge deficit via an insanely expensive and morally questionable war, making us broke at the worst possible time. Really we should be blaming the administrations from 20 years ago for not having adequately funded educational and physical infrastructure that would have given us a better edge in more industries.
But the mortgage meltdown itself can be blamed on people from just about every party. Either way I think this meltdown will be a positive thing in the long, long, term. It basically forces us to invest in stuff that'll pay off long term like serious science and education funding, energy efficiency which will literally save us cash to use on other stuff, etc. That's really my beef with the whole anti-government bent some people have. The private sector is best for competition and growth but you can't set long-term goals as a nation with only private-sector players. Everyone just cares about making the most money the fastest way possible, and whether their profits one year are higher than the previous year. It's ridiculously short-sighted since some things require spending tons of money in the short term and not making more money every year for a long term to get a payoff decades down the line. Which is probably why there are large companies that just refuse to go public, since having public shareholders means you can't make anything even vaguely resembling a sane long-term focused strategy-if you don't make more money every year your stock gets killed and you get kicked out of your own company. God forbid anybody actually tries to think about long term goals instead of constantly maximizing profits.
Frank 9:27AM (3/04/2009)
SNP,
Did your mother get run over by a Chrysler or something? Or did your girlfriend drop you for a guy that drives a Chrysler? Why all this hate? And better yet why no mention of GM, who is getting bailout (loan) bucks too? Could you be a member of the "let Chrysler die so my precious GM can live" fantasy brigade?
I shouldn't bother with answering your silly diatribe but in case there are those here who are new and don't know the facts:
"We give money to Chrysler and they "give" it to consumers,"
Well that's what ALL the auto companies that are getting government assistance are doing. As a matter of fact it's what ALL the auto companies are doing period. I think it's called competition. What would you have them do? Offer no incentives and then have no or very little sales? Yea, I bet you would like that.
"Anybody who is buying a Chrysler vehicle after 2008 is a prick."
Your comment is so insulting and so moronic it doesn't deserve comment.
"Cerberus will continue to cut american jobs, lower quality, lower safety, lower resale and then sell off Chrysler to a foreign firm after they suck every dollar out of them."
You have just done a good job of describing Daimler, not Cerberus. Now I'm no fan of Cerberus but since they have aquired Chrysler -
They have hired all new management (something we have been screaming at GM to do, to no avail).
They have cut models and consolidated dealerships (something we have been screaming at GM to do, to no avail).
They have cut production (capacity) and employees (costs) because of the unprecedented drop in auto sales (something we have been screaming at GM to uh, well, you get the point).
They have improved interiors in several models and new models. The Challenger and Ram interiors are so much better than the penny pinching crap of the Daimler era.
They greenlighted the Challenger, which I believe would never have happened if Daimler was in control.
They have a program to develop practical, profitable electric cars (unlike GM's "moonshot" that will cost too much, arrive too late, and not make them any money). It looks like between the two of them (if they are still in business) that Chrysler's will be on the market first.
"who didnt go to Toyonda/Ford to buy quality/green"
Uh, I have a Toyota Sequoia, Tundra, and FJ Cruiser that would like to have a word with you about green.
"My tax dollars are going straight into bailout money for Chrysler."
And they are not for GM? And do you really think at this sales rate and Ford's cash burn they will not be asking for loans soon? Are you that out of touch with reality? Should we not buy Toyota's now because they are asking their government for help - and after getting all kinds of tax favors from the state and local governments here in America where they built plants?
"The roads are less safe because costs for chrysler cars have been cut down past the bone. "
Care to cite any references to back up this charge? I have one for you, last year Chrysler had fewer recalls than any of the big six sales leaders - GM, Toyota, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, and Nissan.
Does Chrysler do everything right? Of course not. Does Cerberus want to get out of owning Chrysler? Probably. They didn't count on the economy tanking the way it has. But they can't sell the company by destroying it. That's why they continue to fund the ENVI program, the Phoenix engine, and new cars like the 300/Charger and Grand Cherokee/Durango that will be out in the next model year or two. And from the looks of the positive response they got from the 200C concept they will develop that into a production car - this time it will be designed from the beginning to include alternative poiwertrains.
Wobbly_ears 4:34PM (3/03/2009)
Hyundai & Kia seem to be doing something right.
Hyundai seems to have all the right ideas these days.
1. Make quality vehicles.
2. Offer DOUBLE the warranty period
3. Keep the value quotient high
4. In tough times, offer the Assuarance program to ease buyer's mind.
5. Profit!
Year-to-year, Hyundai's 2009 is HIGHER over 2008!
And yeah, Genesis is consistently selling about 1200 units a month.
Reply
BigWill 4:50PM (3/03/2009)
Now you know why Toyota has consistently said for the last several years that it was more afraid of Hyundai than any of its other competitors.
Between the Hyundai's Assurance Plans and plus their product:
1) The Soul is already getting good reviews from both Inside Line and Popular Mechanics (who picked it over the Cube and xB)
2) The Forte is coming this summer (2.0 engine + 5-speed auto = 36 MPG highway)
3) Love it or hate it, the Genesis Coupe is attracting a lot of attention. There'll be another wave of attention when the turbo arrives in a month, then yet another wave when all of the flashes for the turbo's ECU arrive.
Hyundai/Kia likely going to keep this up.
Metropolis89 5:25PM (3/03/2009)
It's worth noting that currency is helping Hyundai/Kia big time in terms of exporting vehicles to US.
While the Japanese automakers are suffering from a double-blow (plummeting sales + strong yen), Won (Korean currency) is really weak at this point.
H/K seem to be holding up just fine right now, but if won strengthens all of a sudden, they might be in a very big trouble.
seanleeforever 7:32PM (3/03/2009)
i may get marked down by this, but whatever
selling more cars != profit. GM is a perfect example. selling cars at lose is not exactually a smart business plan.
this post is "by the numbers." but Number is one thing, Cash is another. aren't we learning anything from this current bank crisis? any projected profit is, well, projected. Things change you will lose money. same goes for assurance program. personally i think that is a horrible program, good for the customer, bad for the company.
tekd 7:43PM (3/03/2009)
Problem is that those numbers don't show the rather huge incentives Hyundai and especially Kia are getting.
I guess they can afford it somewhat since the south korean currency just dropped through the floor.
Just look at their currency values drop:
http://www.exchange-rates.org/history/KRW/USD/T
They're basically selling their cars for crazy-cheap prices because their currency is dirt-cheap now. Which is screwing up other Asian countries since they often compete for the same exports (like TVs and such).
And quite frankly I'm not sure how much the assurance program is doing for sales at all. You can tell that Kia is getting a nice sales bump even though it doesn't have the program-most of the sales jump is from the fact that they're selling cars for something like 40% off MSRP.
indyogb 9:00PM (3/03/2009)
Re: seanleeforever
I disagree about the Hyundai Assurance Program. I think it is genius - it gets right to the heart of the auto sales slow down - fear of loss of employment. Keep in mind unemployment is currently ~7.6%, and may get up to 10% by this summer. As horrible as that is, that means that 9/10 people (that want one) still have a job. They are bound to get some returns, but I don't think it will be an overwhelming number.
BigWill 9:53PM (3/03/2009)
Hyundai/Kia's success is not purely based on big incentives. Edmunds estimated Chrysler offered an average of $5,566 in incentives on *each* vehicle sold and look where it got them.
ron 4:34PM (3/03/2009)
First
Reply
Papi L-Gee 4:40PM (3/03/2009)
No you're not.
TomdeTomTom 4:43PM (3/03/2009)
Yes he is.
Since you commented, he is first on this thread.
The Luigiian 6:50PM (3/03/2009)
He is so far away from first that the photons emanating from the actual first post will only reach him within the next ten billion years.
jinsei888 4:35PM (3/03/2009)
The only scheme that Hyundai needs to rely on--in a nutshell--is design beautiful cars at a fraction of the price of the competators. That's all American consumers see, price against looks.
Reply