Ford sales in the US plummeted last month by 18.1% year on year to 183,577 units (from 233,256 in September ’06) while GM volume rose 4.3% to 335,260 and Chrysler was off 1.6% to 159,799.
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Overall, sales by the Detroit ‘Big Three’ fell 4.2% to 678,636 units. Year to date, their combined sales were down 8.1% to 6,441,252. Ford was again down the most – 13.8% to 1,926,894 – while GM was off 6.6% to 2,938,535 and Chrysler down 3% to 1,578,823.
Total light vehicle sales were 1,309,654 last month, down just 0.9% on September ’06. YTD volume was off 2.9% to 12,301,941, according to statisticians WardsAuto.com.
Even sales by mighty Toyota were down last month – by just 0.6% to 213,043 – but, Isuzu excepted, it should be smiles all round in Asian import brand land in the US on Wednesday: Mazda up 28.8% to 25,098; Mitsubishi up 22.3% to 12,102; Honda up 13.8% to 127,200 and Nissan up 11% to 94,289.
“Given September’s economic headwind, the industry saw a fair month,” said TMS executive vice president Jim Lentz. “The fall [autumn] selling season is likely to benefit from increased stabilisation and modest gains.”
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By GlobalData“The mid-September launch of the all-new Accord helped increase sales momentum for both the model and the Honda brand,” said American Honda chief Dick Colliver.
Year to date, Mitsubishi was up 17.4% to 105,826 while bigger players like Toyota boosted sales 3.8% (2,001,646), Honda was up 2.8% to 1,193,520, Nissan 4.7% to 813,215 and Mazda 9.2% to 228,399.
Noting that September was Mazda’s best month in the US since 1994, Mazda North American Operations president and CEO Jim O’Sullivan said: “This month’s tremendous sales results can be attributed to the strength of our crossover SUV lineup. Fuel economy and gas [petrol] prices remain top-of-mind for consumers.”
Korea’s Hyundai, however, posted a YTD loss of 0.2% to 358,407.
“While we are encouraged with the strong sales of Accent and Santa Fe, our overall sales were flat versus 2006, reflecting the challenging economic climate and industry conditions,” said Hyundai Motor America’s national sales chief Dave Zuchowski.
Affiliate Kia was up 4.5% to 232,043 YTD.
“The summer months proved to be extremely competitive, and we are seeing customers increasingly turn to Kia for our value proposition, our reliability and our proven safety records as measured by NHTSA and others,” said Kia Motors America executive vice president and COO Len Hunt.
European brands posted an 8.9% gain to 76,946 in September and were up 3% YTD to 698,384.
Porsche sales rose 24.2% to 2,641 last month while Mercedes (17.5% to 22,461) and BMW (11.3% to 24,932) also saw solid gains in contrast to Volkswagen (off 0.3% to 26,912).
Year to date, the picture is less promising with both Porsche and VW off 0.5% (to 26,278 and 243,558 respectively), Mercedes up just 1.8% to 180,275 and BMW up 8% to 248,273.
Graeme Roberts
