Ford kicks off July sales reports with 2.3 percent gain

Posted on August 3rd, 2009 • by Bill Cawthon

Led by strong passenger car and crossover sales, including a 94 percent jump in sales of the Escape, Ford reported improve month-over-month sales for the first time in 19 months. All brands, except Lincoln, showed improvement. Ford executives credit the “Cash for Clunkers” program for putting them over the top.

Volvo sales jumped 25.7 percent in July, a welcome break for the struggling Swedish brand that Ford has been trying to unload. Sales of the S60 sedan skyrocketed 257.2 percent as it became the top Volvo model for the month.

American Honda came in 17.3 percent behind last year as the Honda Division’s 15.8 percent deficit was magnified by a 32.5 percent shortfall at Acura. Sales of the Odyssey minivan fell 48.3 percent.

Chrysler Group reported sales were significantly improved over June and trailed July 2008 by just 9.3 percent. Several lines set new monthly sales records and the Town & Country and Caravan made up some ground as they both outsold the Honda Odyssey. The Caravan was the best-selling minivan for the month, but the T&C was edged out by the Toyota Sienna. Jeep sales were down just two percent for the month and Dodge reported and 8 percent shortfall. The Dodge Caliber and its Jeep stablemates, the Compass and Patriot, all beat their last year’s numbers by large margins.

General Motors turned in the worst performance of the Detroit automakers, posting a 19 percent drop compared to July 2008. Retail sales were down about 9 percent, though volume was the highest in ten months, but fleet sales plunged 47 percent.

Toyota missed its year-ago numbers by 11.9 percent, however, sales were sufficient to put the Japanese automaker back into second place in the monthy and year-to-date (YTD) rankings.

Nissan North America, Inc. reported July sales of 71,847 light vehicles, down 24.6 percent from the 95,319 units sold last July. Sales of Nissan Division vehicles decreased 24.8 percent, while sales of Infiniti vehicles decreased by 23.3 percent. This leaves Chrysler still in fifth place among the Big Six automakers.

Mazda sales were off 15.1 percent but dealers were encouraged by the increase in showroom traffic when the CARS program got underway. Sales of the Mazda5 were up 45.5 percent in July.

Subaru set an all-time record in July with 21,839 sales, up 34.2 percent compared to last July. The Tribeca was the only model to miss its mark and the rest of the Subaru models saw increases of at least 33 percent.

Mitsubishi sales were barely half those of last July. However, the 49.7 percent plunge came on more volume and was an improvement over June 2009, the third consecutive month this has happened.

Struggling automaker Suzuki had another poor month with sales down 56.7 percent as dealers continued to sell off the last of the GM/DAT-built Forenzas and dealt with the pared-down XL7 line.

Hyundai turned in a 12 percent gain for July with strong sales of the new, upscale Genesis. Almost all of Hyundai’s passenger cars beat their July 2008 figures.

Kia’s 4.7 percent improvement made it a win-win for the Korean automakers. The new Soul and Forte both had good months.

German luxury carmakers continued to face challenges. Not only are their products generally not eligible for the government CARS rebates, consumers who used to stretch their budgets to upgrade to a premium marque are confronting reality and even well-off buyers are still trying to recoup their investment losses. Porsche reported sales were down 51.4 percent in July and BMW sale dropped 31.5 percent. The shortfall dropped BMW behind Lexus for the month but the Germans still maintain a slim lead in YTD sales. Mini sales were off just 3.8 percent as the CARS program made BMW’s least-expensive cars attractive, especially in the final week of July. While sales of the new E-class were up 12.5 percent, total Mercedes-Benz sales fell 21.7 percent last month, leaving the three-pointed star down 27.6 percent on the year. Smart sales were down again in July with just 1,418 sales, a 44.6 percent decline. Just 9,918 of the tiny Daimler cars have been sold in the first seven months of this year.

Strong sales of the Jetta propelled Volkswagen to a 0.7 percent increase over July 2008. TDI Diesel sales are credited for a 612.4 percent explosion in sales of the Jetta Sportwagen. VW is the best-selling European brand in the United States. VW’s upscale Audi brand posted the best results of the premium German brands. Sales were off 5.8 percent but Audi attributed the results to a lack of inventory instead of a lack of customers. Demand for the A5, S5 and Q5 left dealers with none to sell before the month ended and the A3, A4, A8, A4 Avant and Audi TT Coupe all set monthly sales records.