US light vehicle sales in October were the highest for the month since 2001 as customers snapped up more than 1.3 million cars and light trucks, a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16.98 million units.
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That’s down from September’s incentive-fueled 17.51 million pace, but well ahead of the 16.14 million this time last year. According to Ward’s Auto, last month’s 2.2% improvement puts total light vehicle sales 1.3% ahead of the first 10 months of 2003.
October saw the debut of a number of new models, but none likely to be more crucial than those from Ford. Fighting to reverse a steady sales decline, the blue oval brand has rolled out the largest group of new vehicles in its history and says it is encouraged by early results. Though total sales of the new Mustang were down about 5% from October 2003, Ford says that number was due to lower rental fleet sales. More lucrative retail sales of the redesigned ‘pony car’ were up about 20%, a good sign for the company’s bottom line.
The new Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego sedans sold 3,907 units. These two models bear watching in the months ahead as they are the company’s new ‘bread-and-butter cars’, replacing the ageing Taurus/Sable twins originally launched in the mid-‘90s and last facelifted for 2000. A third new model in the family, the Ford Freestyle, carries Dearborn’s hopes it will become a major player in the rapidly growing crossover segment.
October sales of Ford’s domestic brands were down about 4%, largely due to slowing sales of the high-volume Taurus and Focus and continued weakness in sales of many SUV lines. Only the large Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator posted improved results compared to October 2003. Total US Ford company sales were down 5.3% as double-digit drops at Jaguar and Land Rover wiped out Volvo’s 7% improvement.
The F-Series truck continues to be the company’s white knight. In October, sales were up almost 16% and easily beat the combined total of GM’s four full-size pickup models.
General Motors also rolled out a number of new models, including the Buick LaCrosse and the new corporate minivans, but they came too late in the month to hit any significant volumes.
In its second month on dealer lots, the Pontiac G6 achieved 4,167 sales to become the division’s third-highest volume model.
Like Ford, GM reported weaker October results. Adjusted for daily sales rates (DSR), volume was down about 5% last month as both cars and light trucks came up short of their October 2003 marks. Improved sales at Cadillac, Chevrolet and Saab couldn’t overcome shortfalls at Buick, GMC, Pontiac and Saturn as GM’s domestic lines captured their lowest share of the total light vehicle market this year.
Despite higher sales in October, Chevrolet actually lost ground in its efforts to overtake Ford as America’s most popular domestic marque. While the Impala has passed the Taurus to become the bestselling American-brand car, weakness in sales of Chevy’s mature SUVs and pickups opened the gap from about 8,300 units to over 23,000 units.
Although sales of full-size SUVs were well off their pace from a year ago, GM saw good numbers for its mid-size pickups and SUVs. Sales of the Equinox and Envoy were strong and the recently redesigned Chevrolet Colorado came within 615 sales of overtaking the ancient segment-leading Ford Ranger.
Unlike its Detroit rivals, Chrysler again came up a winner. Sales were up 2.3% in October, led by another month of good volume of the Chrysler 300 and a record month for the Pacifica. Chrysler said sales of its flagship brand improved 38% as volume of most of its car and light truck model lines increased.
Things weren’t quite so rosy for Chrysler’s Jeep division, where sales were down 23%. Jeep sales were still up 1% in year-to-date (YTD) totals and Chrysler is looking to the newly redesigned Grand Cherokee to bring its SUV customers back.
In spite of aggressive promotion, the Dodge Ram pickup missed its October 2003 mark by 16% and is now down 3% for the first 10 months of the year. Fortunately, the new Dodge Magnum (the wagon version of the Chrysler 300C) and improved results for the Caravan minivan, Stratus sedan and Durango truck line kept Dodge within 325 units of its October 2003 mark.
Japanese brands achieved mixed results Stateside in October. Volume leaders Toyota, Honda and Nissan posted new monthly records for both their regular and premium lines while Subaru, with a recently-refreshed model line, reported sales were up 12%. Mazda sales were down 2.4% as poor sales of mature car lines and light trucks dragged down improved sales of the relatively new 3 and 6. Mitsubishi continued to seek a new low for US sales with another double-digit plunge that left it with a 35.8% deficit in YTD sales.
The Koreans fared better as Kia posted a new record for October while Hyundai was happy with its second-best October ever. Hyundai’s Santa Fe SUV was the brand’s best-seller and the smaller Tucson SUV, newly launched, has gotten off to a good start. The GM Daewoo-built Forenza and Verona also propelled Suzuki to a record month though Suzuki’s own-design vehicles are all in the red by double-digit margins in YTD sales.
Sport-utility vehicles helped BMW and Porsche achieve new sales records last month. BMW’s X3 SUV made up for a drop in sales of the older, larger X5 and the Cayenne accounted for almost 69% of Porsche’s sales. However, expect a renaissance for Porsche’s sports car lines as the new 911 and Boxter are launched in coming months.
BMW also enjoyed better sales from its 3-series (now in its final model year) and newer 5-series which countered an almost 38% decline in 7-series volume. Perhaps it’s time to wheel out the much-rumoured facelift.
YTD volume for the Mini is still very slightly ahead of 2003, but the addition of the cabriolet has hardly increased sales by the brand, which was only 98 units ahead of October 2003. Sales of the base Mini Cooper were off nearly 40% and those of the Cooper S were down 21%.
Volkswagen and Audi both missed their October 2003 marks by about 8%, but Audi did report record sales of its ultra-luxury A8 sedan as well as improved volume for the A4 and A4 cabriolet. Volkswagen saw stronger sales of the Passat, Golf and Jetta station wagon.
There must be some rule that only one DaimlerChrysler brand can shine at a time. Mercedes sales were down 4.8% last month with declines almost across the board. S-class sales were down 32.7% and C-class sales were off by almost 10% as the E-class became the volume leader for the month. The new SLK bucked the trend with a 124% improvement in sales and there was also a bit of a bump in sales of the M-Class SUV.
Market shares told an interesting story in October. Import brands grabbed over 43% of the market, their largest share of US light vehicle sales this year. They also took over 60% of last month’s passenger car sales.
Even though total sales of most larger truck-based models continued to slip, sport-utility and crossover vehicles picked up a larger piece of the pie. Pickups also enjoyed a good month at the expense of passenger cars and minivans.
Sales of luxury brands claimed almost 11.6% of October sales, a new high for 2004. Lexus is firmly entrenched in first place among premium marques, almost 20,000 sales ahead of second-place BMW.
October results for Ford’s F-Series and Chevy’s Silverado indicate that Ford’s 23rd consecutive year as America’s favourite vehicle is virtually assured. Repeats are also on the cards for the Toyota Camry, which leads the Honda Accord by a hefty margin, the Dodge Caravan and Ford Explorer.
Now the huge inventories of 2004 models have been reduced, GM and Ford have backed off on their incentive programs going into November; hoping new models will reduce the need to bribe customers into dealer showrooms. However, buyers have come to expect rebates and subsidised financing on American vehicles, so it’s difficult to say how successful this strategy will be.
Bill Cawthon
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Ward’s U.S. Light Vehicles |
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Ward’s U.S. Light Vehicles |
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Ward’s 10 Best Selling |
