March sales

[ifcar]

Automaker declines plus the top 15 sellers:

http://www.examiner.com/x-1017-DC-Car-Examiner~y2009m4d1-News-car-sales-weak-in-March-but-automakers-had-feared-worse

[280Z Turbo]

1. Ford F-Series (large pickup)   32,728
3. Chevrolet Silverado (large pickup)   23,508
8. Dodge Ram (large pickup)   19,328

"The big three don't build the kind of fuel efficient cars that people want"

[the Teuton]

Ruth Manuel-Logan looks like she's made of wax.

[Laconian]

1. Ford F-Series (large pickup)   32,728
3. Chevrolet Silverado (large pickup)   23,508
8. Dodge Ram (large pickup)   19,328

"The big three don't build the kind of fuel efficient cars that people want"

They are building the kind of fuel inefficient cars that businesses want. I imagine the fleet demand for trucks is less elastic than consumer demand for newer and shinier cars, which is way down.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

1. Ford F-Series (large pickup)   32,728
3. Chevrolet Silverado (large pickup)   23,508
8. Dodge Ram (large pickup)   19,328

"The big three don't build the kind of fuel efficient cars that people want"

I'm sure the fact that those trucks have been "given away" have nothing to do with that.

Americans love trucks, the average american is also a automotive retard.

It's also a comfort zone thing, having had the "virtues" of a SUV/Truck beaten into their head by automakers/salesman/media/their peers it's going to take some serious time to bring everyone back down to reality.

[Yawn]

Ford used to sell 60-70k per month F series

[ifcar]

Ford used to sell 60-70k per month F series

Everyone used to sell a lot more than they're selling now. Has the market share of full-size pickups decreased recently, or just the sales volume?

[giant_mtb]

Well, since the F-150 was still #1 in the country...I'd say it was general sales volume that decreased.

[ifcar]

Well, since the F-150 was still #1 in the country...I'd say it was general sales volume that decreased.

Yeah, it was kind of a rhetorical question.

[giant_mtb]

Yeah, it was kind of a rhetorical question.

I know.  Just let me feel smart.

[omicron]

As good a place as any for this:

VFACTS for March: Dead cat bounce?

A straightforward comparison of new-car sales in March 2009 with the same month a year ago reveals a 17.1 per cent slide. Fortunately, that has to be seen in the light of comparing a market currently dogged by external financial and economic influences versus a market on its way to setting another new record for sales.

Total sales for March '09 were 75,650 units, 15,635 units less than in March 2008. With the disparity between the first half of the two years (2008 and 2009), we won't see a 'plateau' until around September of this year. That's not to say that the plateau isn't already there, but we're comparing two extremely different markets for the present. Of course, should the domestic economy worsen in the meantime, the sales graph may continue to show the market 'down' even later into the year and perhaps next year as well.

According to VFACTS figures released today, the March 2009 sales tally was actually up by 7.7 per cent, seasonally adjusted against the February 2009 sales, so that strongly suggests the market is not in continuing decline. As further evidence, the year-to-date figure (212,970 vehicles sold) shows a 19.2 per cent decline over the 2008 YTD, so the 17.1 per cent 'drop' in March is less than the average for the year so far.

"This result is certainly down on a year ago but the extent of the fall in the market appears to have stabilised somewhat in recent months," confirmed Chief Executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Andrew McKellar.

"Around the world the automotive industry has been disproportionately affected by the impact of the financial crisis and resultant economic downturn.  We can take some comfort from the fact that the Australian new vehicle market has performed far better than those in almost all other developed economies."

YTD comparisons with March last year are almost pointless, but for the record, passenger vehicle sales were down by 9603 units (-18.1 per cent), SUVs were down 3438 units (-25.2 per cent) and light trucks were down 1847 units (-11.0 per cent). From this, it appears that business confidence is significantly ahead of consumer sentiment among private buyers.

Toyota was the top-selling brand in March, shifting 16,608 units for the month and keeping on top with 44,309 units for the year-to-date. Holden sold 9188 for the month, followed by Ford with 7570 sales. The top ten car companies on the strength of year-to-date performance are Toyota (44,309), Holden (26,979), Ford (20,986), Mazda (19,024), Mitsubishi (13,085), Hyundai (12,759), Nissan (12,598), Honda (11,807), Subaru (9288) and Volkswagen (7094). Of those, only Hyundai has sold more cars this year so far, than for the same period last year.

Audi has to be singled out for special mention yet again. As in previous months, the German prestige importer has remained ahead of sales for both March 2008 (846 sales last month, versus 809 12 months earlier) and the (YTD) first quarter figure of 2599 units in 2008. It was the introduction of the Q5 in March that provided the company with an extra 101 units it wouldn't have had otherwise. The company has sold 2733 vehicles this year.

BMW also gained momentum in March, selling 1450 units in March, as opposed to the 1322 units sold in March 2008. Credit for that largely goes to the upgraded 3 Series.

Dodge continues to defy logic and the market slump, selling 320 units for the month (versus 258 for March '08) and 906 units YTD (705 for last year). The Nitro is the gun seller for the brand.

Hyundai is another company that is ahead of last year's effort, on the basis of both monthly sales (4907 for March '09, 4193 for March '08) and year-to-date (12,759 for 2009, 11,375 for 2008).

Jaguar is ahead on both bases as well, thanks to the XF. Sales for the month were 58 units (versus 46 for March '08) and YTD sales are 180 units (146 for 2008).

Skoda is gradually building sales, it seems; 79 units versus 62 for monthly sales and 182 versus 163 for YTD sales. Virtually all those added sales go to the facelifted Octavia and its new entry-level petrol variant.

Subaru sold more in March (3415 units) than it did in March 2008 (2885), but is over a thousand units behind its 2008 YTD figure (9288 this year, 10,315 last year).

The top-selling cars for the month were:

Holden Commodore 3544
Toyota HiLux 3306
Toyota Corolla 3007
Mazda3 2801
Ford Falcon 1990
Toyota Yaris 1741
Hyundai Getz 1597
Nissan Navara 1562
Toyota Camry 1515
Hyundai i30 1503

http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2009/vfacts-for-march-dead-cat-bounce-14711

[Nethead]

Even in a declining economy some decline more than others.  Check out the figures from the link upstream near the start of this thread which contained a chart of the fifteen top-selling vehicles in the USA during March, 2009:

Best-selling cars of March 2009

1. Ford F-Series (large pickup) 32,728                         
2. Toyota Camry (midsize coupe and sedan) 25,783
3. Chevrolet Silverado (large pickup) 23,508                     
4. Honda Accord (midsize coupe and sedan) 22,722
5. Toyota Corolla (compact sedan and wagon) 22,257
6. Honda Civic (compact coupe and sedan) 20,645
7. Nissan Altima (midsize coupe and sedan) 19,521
8. Dodge Ram (large pickup) 19,328
9. Chevrolet Malibu (midsize sedan) 14,722
10. Honda CR-V (compact SUV) 12,959
11. Ford Fusion (midsize sedan) 12,723
12. Chevrolet Impala (large sedan) 12,648
13. Ford Escape (compact SUV) 12,580
14. Ford Focus (compact coupe and sedan) 12,383
15. Toyota RAV4 (compact SUV) 11,899

So in the top fifteen are: 

Four Fords               70,414 vehicles sold  The F150 was the king in March, and outsold the next truck by > 39%.
Three Toyotas          59,939 vehicles sold  The Camry outsold every pickup truck except for the F150.
Three Hondas           56,326 vehicles sold
Three Chevrolets       50,878 vehicles sold
One Nissan               19,521 vehicles sold
One Dodge               19,328 vehicles sold

Interesting that nothing Korean made the top fifteen, nor did anything European.  Japanese brands in the top fifteen totalled 135,786 vehicles sold, just under fifty percent of the total of the top fifteen vehicles sold in March, 2009.  They're strong in sixteen through whatever, too...

[ifcar]

Interesting that nothing Korean made the top fifteen, nor did anything European. 

It's been decades since a European car was on the best-seller list, and Korean cars rarely crack it.

However, Hyundai hadn't released their sales results when that was first published -- the Sonata sales actually increased last month, to 12,406, which did push it into the top 15.

[Byteme]

I just read that March auto sales in Brazil are up 36%, the best ever March in history for auto sales there.

[Nethead]

It's been decades since a European car was on the best-seller list, and Korean cars rarely crack it.

However, Hyundai hadn't released their sales results when that was first published -- the Sonata sales actually increased last month, to 12,406, which did push it into the top 15. 

ifcar:  That would bump the Toyota RAV4 off the bottom of the list, and make the results:

Four Fords
Two Toyotas
Three Hondas
Three Chevrolets
One Nissan
One Dodge
One Hyundai