Toyota Back in Third as New Car Sales Increase Despite Economic Doldrums
Tuesday, August 9, 2011 by admin
Economic growth has stalled. Congress barely lifted the debt limit in time for a stated deadline, leading to a 266-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Averages, as automakers expressed confidence that sales will pick up again later in the year.
Analysts for General Motors and Ford Motor say they’re sticking with predictions that Americans will buy 13 million to 13.5 million cars and light trucks in this calendar year, though GM allowed that the number would probably be closer to 13 than 13-1/2. Toyota Motors, struggling with parts shortages as a result of the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, said it’s sticking with a 12.5-million prediction.
The three estimated that July sales ran at a 12.2-million Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate, up slightly from June. Retail sales accounted for about 9.7- 9.8 million of that.
Wall Street Analysts slammed Ford for not meeting their sales expectations, and the company’s stock dropped 50 cents, to $11.85 per share. GM was off $1.02, to $27.05 per share.
GM and Ford say they can’t keep up with demand for such models as the Chevy Cruze and Equinox, GMC Terrain, and Ford Fiesta and Focus.
Perhaps. Two models from those companies stand out for their July sales numbers. Chevrolet sold more than 24,000 Cruzes, making it the second-bestselling sedan in the U.S. last month, and bestseller among compacts. Ford sold more than 24,000 of its soon-to-be-replaced Escapes.
GM says 19 percent of retail Chevy Cruze sales are the high fuel mileage Eco models, while 25 percent of Cruze sales are to fleets. Ford does not break out fleet sales per model, but allows that there are good deals – high incentives – helping move the aged Escape.
GM also further explained its high inventories of full-size trucks. It’s building up inventory to lost production from moving Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra 1500 production to Flint, Michigan next summer, for the GMT900’s replacement, the K2XX. Like Ford’s EcoBoost-powered F-150, the K2XX is expected to launch as a 2013 model with much improved fuel efficiency.
GMT900 inventory, which had a 130-day supply just last month, is now down to about 115 days according to Chevy sales chief Alan Batey.
So, will we get to 13 million sales by the end of the year? Even with consumer confidence dropping and unemployment unable to move below 9 percent, automakers expect more showroom traffic as the Japanese brands get their inventories back up by the fall. Having fallen so far in 2008 and ’09, the auto industry has come back at a better rate than the rest of the economy, and there are a lot of new models coming out by the end of the year that will be advertised more heavily than existing models. In short, I think the industry is going to do better than the rest of the economy, but I’d put money on Toyota’s 12.5-million estimate, plus maybe 100k or two.
Analysts for General Motors and Ford Motor say they’re sticking with predictions that Americans will buy 13 million to 13.5 million cars and light trucks in this calendar year, though GM allowed that the number would probably be closer to 13 than 13-1/2. Toyota Motors, struggling with parts shortages as a result of the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, said it’s sticking with a 12.5-million prediction.
The three estimated that July sales ran at a 12.2-million Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate, up slightly from June. Retail sales accounted for about 9.7- 9.8 million of that.
Wall Street Analysts slammed Ford for not meeting their sales expectations, and the company’s stock dropped 50 cents, to $11.85 per share. GM was off $1.02, to $27.05 per share.
Perhaps. Two models from those companies stand out for their July sales numbers. Chevrolet sold more than 24,000 Cruzes, making it the second-bestselling sedan in the U.S. last month, and bestseller among compacts. Ford sold more than 24,000 of its soon-to-be-replaced Escapes.
GM says 19 percent of retail Chevy Cruze sales are the high fuel mileage Eco models, while 25 percent of Cruze sales are to fleets. Ford does not break out fleet sales per model, but allows that there are good deals – high incentives – helping move the aged Escape.
GM also further explained its high inventories of full-size trucks. It’s building up inventory to lost production from moving Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra 1500 production to Flint, Michigan next summer, for the GMT900’s replacement, the K2XX. Like Ford’s EcoBoost-powered F-150, the K2XX is expected to launch as a 2013 model with much improved fuel efficiency.
GMT900 inventory, which had a 130-day supply just last month, is now down to about 115 days according to Chevy sales chief Alan Batey.
So, will we get to 13 million sales by the end of the year? Even with consumer confidence dropping and unemployment unable to move below 9 percent, automakers expect more showroom traffic as the Japanese brands get their inventories back up by the fall. Having fallen so far in 2008 and ’09, the auto industry has come back at a better rate than the rest of the economy, and there are a lot of new models coming out by the end of the year that will be advertised more heavily than existing models. In short, I think the industry is going to do better than the rest of the economy, but I’d put money on Toyota’s 12.5-million estimate, plus maybe 100k or two.
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