April 2010 Auto Sales by the Numbers

April 2010 Auto Sales by the Numbers

U.S. CAR AND LIGHT-TRUCK SALES, APRIL

All manufacturers have reported

Automaker	Apr-10	Apr-09	Pct. chng.	4 month	4 month	Pct. chng.
2010	2009
BMW Group*	21,137	19,389	9%	76,266	70,714	8%
Chrysler Group LLC	95,703	76,682	25%	329,918	323,890	2%
Daimler AG**	18,919	15,924	19%	70,915	61,137	16%
Ford Motor Co.***	167,283	133,979	25%	608,991	457,172	33%
General Motors****	183,614	172,150	7%	659,475	581,852	13%
Honda (American)†	113,697	101,029	13%	370,109	332,014	12%
Hyundai Group††	74,059	59,558	24%	262,264	224,305	17%
Isuzu	-	-	-%	-	165	-100%
Jaguar Land Rover	3,645	3,324	10%	12,736	11,920	7%
Maserati	186	107	74%	580	353	64%
Mazda	18,935	16,139	17%	74,876	69,934	7%
Mitsubishi	3,932	3,919	0%	17,555	17,753	-1%
Nissan†††	63,769	47,190	35%	291,998	221,957	32%
Porsche	1,747	1,853	-6%	6,969	6,778	3%
Saab Spyker Automobile‡	215	-	-%	348	-	-%
Subaru	23,198	15,649	48%	80,692	57,181	41%
Suzuki	1,950	2,543	-23%	7,611	17,668	-57%
Toyota‡‡	157,439	126,540	24%	543,125	486,210	12%
VW‡‡‡	32,580	23,411	39%	112,489	81,606	38%
Other (estimate)	294	306	-4%	1,176	1,224	-4%
TOTAL	982,302	819,692	20%	3,528,093	3,023,833	17%

 

Numbers in this table are calculated by Automotive News based on actual monthly sales reported by the manufacturers and may differ from numbers reported elsewhere.

Source: Automotive News Data Center

Note: Other includes estimates for Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Lotus

*Includes Mini and Rolls-Royce

**Includes Maybach, Mercedes-Benz and Smart

***Includes Volvo

****Includes Saab through February 2010

†Includes Honda Division and Acura

††Includes Hyundai and Kia

†††Includes Nissan Division and Infiniti

‡The sale of Saab was final on February 23, 2010

‡‡Includes Toyota Division, Lexus and Scion

‡‡‡Includes VW, Audi and Bentley

 

Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, Chrysler lead April increases

 

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp., Hyundai Group and Chrysler Group all boosted U.S. sales by about 25 percent in April as demand continued to recover from last year's collapse.

Ford said retail sales advanced 32 percent, for its 18th gain by that measure in the past 19 months. General Motors Co.'s four surviving brands -- Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac – recorded a combined increase of 20 percent as the automaker climbed 7 percent

Toyota rose sharply for the second straight month, aided by no-interest loans and discount leases to combat its recall crisis. Chrysler's jump marked its first double-digit increase in almost five years.

We are putting the fundamentals together for a full-blown recovery," TrueCar.com analyst Jesse Toprak said, adding that April sales showed another month in a gradual return in consumer demand that was demolished in the past two years.

"It's slow, but we are on the right track," Toprak said.

Through March, the industry had advanced 16 percent from the start of 2009 and the weakest demand in almost 30 years.

Industrywide deliveries in April may have risen to an annualized rate of 11.4 million light vehicles, the average of eight analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg, compared with a year earlier. GM today forecast an 11.1-million-unit sales rate.

That would be less than the 11.7 million seasonally adjusted annualized pace in March, when Toyota offered its biggest incentives and spurred competitors to add discounts.

GM, Ford, Chrysler

GM has predicted U.S. sales this year will total 11.3 million to 11.8 million light vehicles. Although GM economist Ted Chu said he thinks the second quarter will continue its current pace, he predicted a one-million-unit increase in second-half sales compared with the first six months.

“Pent-up demand is building,” Chu said. GM is winding down Hummer, Pontiac and Saturn and has sold Saab.

GM's results were in line with analysts' forecast of a 7 percent increase. Ford was projected to record a 28 percent gain; its 25 percent advance marked its fifth straight monthly increase above 20 percent.

GM sold 9,150 Chevrolet Camaros, with about 7,800 of them going to individual customers. That's the highest retail total for the sports car since GM relaunched it in March 2009, said Steve Carlisle, vice president of U.S. sales operations.

Sales of the Chevrolet Silverado rose 12 percent, and the pickup saw its second consecutive monthly increase in sales to individual customers, Carlisle said. Its GMC Sierra sibling saw deliveries increase 13 percent, with a 19 percent increase in retail sales.

Ford's increase will be “good enough to gain market share,” said Efraim Levy, a Standard and Poor's analyst, in a research note. “We like the mix improvement, with retail sales, pickups and utilities powering the volume forward. Residuals values reportedly advanced for Ford, outpacing the industry.”

Ford was led by a jump of more than 42 percent in F-Series pickup trucks and a 41 percent rise in its Escape SUV. The automaker said fleet demand rose 13 percent.

Chrysler's 25 percent advance was the biggest since a 27 percent gain in July 2005, when U.S. automakers offered all buyers the same discounts as employees.

Asia-based automakers also benefited from incentives.

Manufacturers, dealers and investors use the annualized rate to account for seasonal buying patterns when comparing monthly totals. The average estimate for an industry sales pace of 11.4 million vehicles would compare with the 9.5 million of a year earlier, after the industry experienced the lowest U.S. demand in almost 30 years.

Consumer confidence

Automakers were buoyed by consumer confidence that rose in April to its highest since September 2008, as measured by the Conference Board's monthly index.

Toyota began offering incentives on March 2 such as subsidized leases after worldwide recalls of more than 8 million vehicles to fix defects linked to unintended acceleration and to adjust brakes. The company probably spent an average $2,416 on incentives on each vehicle last month, according to TrueCar.com.

The industry average is about $2,798, TrueCar.com said. Incentives are down 4 percent from March 2009, when GM and Chrysler boosted spending ahead of their bankruptcy filings.

John McEleney, who has a Toyota and a Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealership in Clinton, Iowa, said sales were up 30 percent at his Toyota store and increased about 20 percent among his GM brands.

“Sales were really pretty good, but not quite as good as March,” McEleney said before today's results were released, adding that sales may keep gaining this year. “We're seeing a lot more showroom traffic and a lot more Internet activity. People are feeling better about their jobs, too.”

 

Sourcer; [ Automotive News ]