June Sales – Final

June light vehicle sales came in just under 860,000 units, down 27.7 percent compared to June 2008. The leaves automakers 35.1 percent behind last year’s pace at the end of the first six months of 2009. The seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate (SAAR) refused to break the 10 million mark, stopping at 9.69 million, and failing even to meet May’s 9.91 million SAAR. This has to be a bit of a disappointment as a lot of industry insiders and watchers were looking for the 10 million figure as an indication sales were beginning to recover somewhat. The results were blamed mostly on the continuing reluctance of consumers to buy and lenders to finance, but there may have also been some potential customers waiting on the sidelines for the government’s “cash for clunkers” program to go into effect.

Ford June sales were down a better-than-predicted 11 percent with several models, including the Fusion, Escape and Expedition, coming in ahead of their year-ago numbers. Volvo sales were actually up compared to last June, something that has not happened in months. The Fusion is now the top-selling American-badged car for the first six months of 2009.

GM sales fell 33.4 percent, more than analyst predictions, as orphan brands Hummer, Saab and Saturn saw big declines and fleet sales dropped 49 percent. Pontiac, on the other hand, did rather well, coming in second only to Buick. Over 9,000 Camaros left dealer lots in June, making it the most popular muscle car for the month.

Chrysler sales were down more than predicted as good retail sales were hurt by poor fleet sales due, in part, to the fact the company shut down production for several weeks while it was in bankruptcy. The company reported retail sales were down just 16 percent.

The Chrysler minivans outsold the Toyota Sienna, but even the combined sales of the Town & Country and Caravan couldn’t equal the sales of the Honda Odyssey, which were up 11.8 percent in June. Even though its sales were down in June, the Jeep Wrangler remains the best-selling traditional SUV in America. Ram pickup sales picked up, leaving the big Dodge just 10 percent behind last year. Only the Ford F-Series and Nissan Titan posted better results.

Toyota sales fell 34.6 percent, leaving the leading Japanese automaker in third place in both monthly and year-to-date (YTD) sales. Once-high-flying Toyota’s in unfamiliar territory, with YTD sales 37.9 percent behind the January to June period in 2008, its first operational losses in six decades and a major crunch in California, where Toyota is a major player. Sales of Toyota’s once-hot Scion brand are down 60.4 percent this year. Toyota did get one bit of good news: the Camry is now outselling the Chevy Silverado and is second only to the Ford F-Series in YTD sales.

Nissan came in 23.1 percent short of hitting last June’s numbers as a 32.3 percent drop in Infiniti sales and slow car sales pulled down a relatively good showing from its truck line. Sales of the Titan full-size pickup showed a slight increase.

Honda sales were down 29.5 percent last month; the Odyssey was one of the few bright spots in Honda’s June results. Honda has settled in fourth place, behind Toyota and ahead of Chrysler, in both June and YTD sales. The new Insight Hybrid is having difficulty competing with the well-established Toyota Prius which is outselling the Insight almost 6 to one.

Mitsubishi reported sales down 41.8 percent in June. After six months of 2009, Mitsubishi has sold less than half as many vehicles as they turned in the first six months of 2008.

Subaru of America reported record sales of 18,620 vehicles, up more than 3 percent from last June. The uptick leaves Subaru just 0.8 percent behind its 2008 sales, the best record for any mainstream automaker.

Mazda finished the month 42.2 percent behind June of 2008. The Hiroshima-based former Ford subsidiary seems to be losing its “zoom-zoom” as sales are now down 34.5 percent on the year.

Suzuki sales fell off a cliff, down 78.0 percent as inventories of the discontinued Daewoo-built Forenza were sold off. Sales of the XL7 and new SX4 also took major hits. So far this year, Suzuki is the automaker with the biggest year-over-year deficit.

Lexus beat BMW by 130 sales to become the top luxury brand for the month, but BMW still holds the lead in YTD sales. BMW sales were off by 20.1 percent and Mini sales were down by 21.2 percent. The BMW 3-series was the top luxury car for the month.

Porsche sales plunged nearly 66 percent as sales of the Cayenne SUV nose-dived 76 percent. Porsche, which sold 2,650 cars last June, sold just over 900 vehicles last month.

Mercedes-Benz numbers were down 22.6 percent and Smart sales took a 56.2 percent hit.

Volkswagen, the best-selling European line in both June and YTD sales, reported an 18.0 percent drop. Jetta sales were up 16 percent. The Chrysler-built Routan had its best sales month ever with 2,099 finding new homes in June. Audi reported sales were down 8.3 percent in June but said it probably achieved its highest luxury market share since April.

Hyundai sales dropped 24 percent in June, leaving it in seventh place among the automakers; a surprise for at least one analyst who predicted it would take Nissan’s place as anchor of the six major automakers. Hyundai did outsell Dodge for the first time (by 7 units) to become the sixth best-selling brand in June, though Dodge still has a solid lead at the end of the first six months of this year.

Kia sales were down just 5.1 percent, thanks to strong sales of the Sportage and the new Soul.

Domestic brands continued to lose ground in June, giving up 0.2 percent of the market. Compared to the first six months of 2008, Chrysler, Ford and GM’s American brands have lost 3.1 percent of the light vehicle market. Surprisingly, the Japanese have not been the beneficiaries; they lost 1.3 percent of their share from last year in June and are down 0.1 percent for the year.

The big winners are the Koreans, Hyundai and Kia, which took another 0.9 percent of the market in June and have gathered 2.1 percent in YTD share since June last year. The Europeans have flourished, too, relatively speaking, having picked up 0.8 percent in June; they now have 8.5 percent of the light vehicle pie, up 1.0 percent from last year.

While passenger cars still claim the majority of sales, light trucks, including pickups, SUVs, CUVs and minivans, have made up some of the ground they lost when gas prices went through the roof last summer. Trucks accounted for an extra 2.1 percent of sales, compared to last June, and are now 0.2 percent ahead of where they were for the first six months of 2008. As of today, gas prices are about $1.46 lower than they were at the end of June 2008 and it shows in improved numbers for a number of light trucks, including the Dodge Ram. As it doesn’t look like gas is going to be much more expensive than it is now, buyer interest in trucks (with their generous incentives) is likely to continue moderate growth.

Top Twenty (Total sales January-June 2009)

1. Ford F Series – 179,632
2. Toyota Camry – 150,242
3. Chevrolet Silverado – 149,949
4. Honda Accord – 131,043
5. Toyota Corolla – 121,643
6. Honda Civic – 118,459
7. Nissan Altima – 96,428
8. Dodge Ram Pickup – 94,516
9. Ford Fusion – 85,146
10. Honda CR-V – 78,917
11. Chevrolet Impala – 78,687
12. Ford Escape – 76,402
13. Chevrolet Malibu – 75,829
14. Ford Focus – 69,354
15. Toyota RAV4 – 62,241
16. Hyundai Sonata – 60,481
17. Honda Odyssey – 56,554
18. Toyota Tacoma – 53,161
19. GMC Sierra – 50,067
20. Jeep Wrangler – 48,890