By The Numbers: May 2011 - As The Earth Quakes Edition

The Earth Quakes, Japanese Sales Fall

Overall, auto sales were down a bit in May, though there certainly were a few bright spots in the industry. For instance, the Chrysler Group, which consists of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles, posted a 10-percent sales gain for the month when compared to the same period a year ago, led by strong sales of its Jeep brand. Grand Cherokee sales were up 192 percent, while the Compass (up 92 percent) and Patriot (up 80 percent) also made big gains.

The star of the Chrysler show, however, is undoubtedly the Dodge Durango. Sales of the reborn 'ute shot up 217,800 percent... though that's not terribly enlightening since Dodge only sold two Durangos in May of 2010.

Chrysler's strong sales, combined with an extremely poor showing (albeit not entirely its own fault) from Toyota allowed the Pentastar brand to slip into the number three sales spot behind General Motors and Ford.

The Korean conglomerate of Hyundai and Kia similarly performed very well, knocking Honda out of the fourth spot. Projections that the Korean duo would outsell Toyota, however, fell short by less than a thousand units.

Volkswagen sales are hitting their stride as well, with the new 2011 Jetta (16,671) leading the way.

Japanese brands took the brunt of the sales hit in May, due in large part to fallout from the earthquake and tsunami that hit the island nation hard in March. Of the three major Japanese automakers, Toyota was hit the hardest, down over 30 percent. Lexus, Toyota's luxury brand, fared ever worse, down nearly 45 percent from May of last year.

Fuel efficiency continues to sell cars like the Ford Focus (22,303), Chevrolet Cruze (22,711) and Hyundai Elantra (20,006). What's more, Eco editions accounted for about 15 percent of all Cruze sales, and Volkswagen reports that its TDI diesels managed to snag 22.2 percent of its share.

And finally, the Ford Explorer earned 13,318 sales, its highest tally in nearly four years, proving what a genuinely good redesign can do for a neglected nameplate.

Brand/Company	Vol. %	May-11	May-10	DSR %*	May-11	May-10
Saab	121.26	385	174	139.70	16	7
Mitsubishi	59.76	7,568	4,737	73.08	315	182
Scion	59.63	5,710	3,577	72.93	238	138
Volvo	57.95	7,359	4,659	71.12	307	179
Jeep	55.02	35,573	22,948	67.93	1,482	883
Kia	53.39	48,212	31,431	66.17	2,009	1,209
Porsche	50.40	2,817	1,873	62.93	117	72
Mini	37.04	5,801	4,233	48.46	242	163
Jaguar	32.12	1,271	962	43.13	53	37
Volkswagen	27.85	30,100	23,543	38.51	1,254	906
Buick	23.82	15,579	12,582	34.14	649	484
Hyundai	20.73	59,214	49,045	30.80	2,467	1,886
Suzuki	20.34	2,290	1,903	30.36	95	73
BMW	15.63	20,651	17,859	25.27	860	687
Audi	13.60	10,457	9,205	23.07	436	354
Ram	13.40	21,467	18,930	22.85	894	728
Suzuki	9.33	2,132	1,950	18.44	89	75
GMC	8.05	32,589	30,160	17.06	1,358	1,160
Land Rover	6.72	2,891	2,709	15.61	120	104
Mercedes-Benz	5.89	20,306	19,176	14.72	846	738
Ford	5.32	184,703	175,370	14.10	7,696	6,745
Chevrolet	-3.49	161,401	167,235	4.55	6,725	6,432
Lincoln	-4.59	7,399	7,755	3.36	308	298
Dodge	-4.83	40,200	42,242	3.10	1,675	1,625
Cadillac	-5.72	11,623	12,328	2.14	484	474
Nissan	-7.82	69,759	75,673	-0.13	2,907	2,911
Subaru	-15.34	20,036	23,667	-8.29	835	910
Mazda	-20.92	17,875	22,605	-14.33	745	869
Chrysler	-20.94	16,364	20,699	-14.35	682	796
Infiniti	-21.04	6,389	8,091	-14.46	266	311
Honda	-22.42	81,773	105,407	-15.96	3,407	4,054
Acura	-23.51	9,000	11,766	-17.13	375	453
Smart	-29.21	492	695	-23.31	21	27
Toyota	-31.66	96,082	140,597	-25.97	4,003	5,408
Lexus	-44.61	12,305	22,216	-40.00	513	854
Fiat	NA	1,759	0	NA	73	0
COMPANIES
BMW Group	19.74	26,452	22,092	29.71	1,102	850
Jaguar Land Rover NA	13.38	4,162	3,671	22.82	173	141
Chrysler Group	10.06	115,363	104,819	19.23	4,807	4,032
Ford Mo Co	-0.08	192,102	192,253	8.25	8,004	7,394
GM	-1.18	221,192	223,822	7.06	9,216	8,609
Nissan NA	-9.09	76,148	83,764	-1.52	3,173	3,222
American Honda	-22.53	90,773	117,173	-16.08	3,782	4,507
Toyota Mo Co	-33.43	108,387	162,813	-27.88	4,516	6,262

*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 24 selling days in May 2011 versus 26 selling days in May 2010, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change in average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company. Also, brands are combined and reported as companies only if their sales figures are released jointly.