Hurricane Sandy was a perfect storm: perfectly timed and perfectly positioned to wipe out the last few selling days in October in a large part of the Eastern US.
Estimates of a 14.8m SAAR were washed away, leaving a figure of 14.29m in its place as light vehicle sales managed only a 6.9% increase to 1.09m units.
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Before Sandy formed, October was shaping up as another decent month; even after taking the hit, most manufacturers were able to meet their numbers from October 2011. Two major players did come up short: Hyundai and Nissan. Officials at both companies faulted the disruption caused by the storm for the shortfall.
The Detroit Three all hit their numbers though their results were below analyst estimates. In Ford’s case, it was a real squeaker: just 445 vehicles in the black. Ford did manage an unusual feat as the new C-Max hybrid MPV outsold the Toyota Prius v. The C-Max, Focus and Fiesta combined to give Ford its best small car sales in 11 years.
General Motors also reported strong sales of smaller cars as well as solid growth from Buick and Cadillac, both of which posted double digit gains in October. All four GM brands were in the black for the month.
Chrysler came through with its best October since 2007. Fiat set a new October record, as did the Jeep Wrangler. Jeep was the only Chrysler brand to miss its mark in October. Weak sales of the Compass and the sell-down of the remaining Libertys were the culprits.
The domestic automakers gave up a combined point of market share which was split between the Japanese car companies and the Germans.
Toyota came though with another big win: combined sales of its Scion, Lexus and Toyota brands grew 15.8% in October with Scion leading the way.
Subaru soared 30% last month as it surpassed its previous record annual sales total with two months to spare. Honda, Mazda and Suzuki also grew in October.
Kia set another monthly sales record as deliveries of the US-built Optima grew 50.3%. The record came in spite of weak light truck sales. Hyundai’s shortfall was spread across its line. The Elantra, Santa Fe and Azera were the only Hyundai winners.
Audi continues to set new records while parent Volkswagen reported its best sales in four decades. Audi recently scored well in the influential Consumer Reports reliability report.
Mercedes-Benz still leads in the luxury segment, but BMW cut into the gap in October. Looks like another down-to-the-wire race for the top.
Jaguar Land Rover fell short as both brands faltered. Land Rover was down 20% and Jaguar dropped 23% last month.
Sandy’s damage will likely carry through into November as power and services are restored to communities in the Northeast. Though it still looks good for a 14-plus million sales year, going too much beyond that will depend on rate of the recovery. It could be 2013 before the market recaptures the sales lost to the storm.
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