Car makers see big September sales gains
GM, Chrysler, Ford and VW lead gains; Toyota, Honda sales decline
By Shawn Langlois
October 3, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — A sketchy economy didn’t stop more new car buyers from taking the plunge in September, with several major auto makers showing double-digit improvements in vehicle sales from a year ago.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales for the industry came in Monday at 13.1 million cars and trucks, up from 11.8 million a year ago, according to Autodata.
TrueCar.com analyst Jesse Toprak called the results counterintuitive, and said the overall numbers reached his relatively lofty targets.
”Housing and stock markets are still suffering, consumer confidence is down and gas prices are moving higher,” he commented. “That’s usually disastrous, but clearly the pent-up demand is there.”
General Motors Co. posted a 19.8% surge in U.S. sales last month to 207,145 cars and trucks. The Detroit car maker said retail sales jumped 19% to account for 74% of the total sales volume.
Deliveries to fleet customers, such as rental-car companies, rose 22%.
“For GM, all of the factors that say this is a good time to buy a new vehicle outweigh the bad news that appears to be slowing down the broader economic recovery,” said Don Johnson, GM’s head of U.S. sales.
Separately, Chrysler Group LLC, controlled by Italy’s Fiat, started the barrage of reports with a 27% jump in September U.S. sales to 127,334 vehicles. Car sales gained 12% to 33,217 while the truck side soared 33% to 94,117.
The improvements, led by the Chrysler 200 and 300 sedans along with the Jeep Wrangler, were driven by a 50% jump in retail sales.
“September was also our 18th consecutive month of year-over-year sales growth, and we have now gained more retail market share than anyone else in the country,” said Reid Bigland, Chrysler’s head of U.S. sales. “There is no double-dip downturn going on around here.”
Volkswagen also chimed in with even bigger strides, up almost 36% to 27,036 cars and trucks.
Ford Motor Co. lagged the competition in terms of year-over-year gains, but still notched a 9% jump to 175,199 cars and trucks.
Trucks gained 15%, led by the F-Series pickup, which logged its best month of the year. The Ford Escape sport-utility vehicle and the Fusion sedan also helped boost results.
“It was a solid month for the domestics, but we’re still not ripping and roaring,” said Paul Ballew, chief economist for Nationwide and former sales analyst for GM. “They are in a great competitive position, the best in awhile, but there’s still lots of work to be done.”
Nissan Motors was another big winner, with a 25.2% gain to 92,964 vehicles to mark its best September sales in 26 years. The company has benefited from a diverse mix of cars and trucks and also the fact that it escaped the earthquake earlier this year without as much damage as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.
Toyota, as expected, posted another decline, down 17.5% to 121,451 cars and trucks. The lack of inventory clearly remains a headwind as well as increased incentive competition from rivals.
“In September, production in both North America and Japan returned to normal levels for the first time since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami,” said Bob Carter, head of Toyota U.S. sales. “Our plants are now working overtime and dealer deliveries will continue to increase through the remainder of 2011.”
Honda said it sold 89,532 vehicles, an 8% retreat from a year ago. Like Toyota, Honda said it’s back up to full production and that shoppers should feel confident that they will find the vehicle they’re looking for at dealerships.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/car-makers-see-big-september-sales-gains-2011-10-03?siteid=
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