George S. May Business Blog

Auto sales slide across the board at the hands of a Cash for Clunkers hangover

In the post Cash for Clunkers months it was expected that auto sales would take a hit. Well, they did and here are the numbers. 

“The three Japanese majors saw September sales slides that were generally closer to Ford’s mild Clunker hangover than GM and Chrysler’s cliff dive belly-flop. Honda’s 20 percent overall decline was the worst of the bunch, and was led by a 30 percent drop in Acura sales. In contrast, Toyota-brand vehicles fell 19.1 percent while Lexus actually recorded a 7.3 percent increase. Nissan-brand sales declined a mere 5.8 percent, while Infiniti fell 15 percent.

Honda saw declines for every nameplate except Pilot (+.5 percent) and the new-model Insight which sold 1,746 units. Accord dropped 10.6 percent, Civic fell 28.4 percent while Fit flopped by a staggering 51 percent, probably on low post-Clunker availability. The previously unstoppable CRV shed 12.3 percent, its first decline in many months. Ridgeline (-42.2 percent), Odyssey (-48.9 percent), and Element (-54.1 percent) all dropped with the the alacrity of a Chrysler nameplate. On the Acura front, TSX was the only glimmer of hope, slipping by a mere 5.8 percent. TL fell 35.4 percent, RL slumped 44.4 percent, RDX was off 20.5 while MDX tanked by 41.9 percent.

Toyota saw a similar Clunker crash in its car sales, especially the Yaris which tanked by 68 percent. Corolla saw a mild decline, down 6.6 percent, while Camry fell 16.2 percent. Avalon dropped by 45.3 percent, while the new Venza logged a disappointing 4,738. Even Toyota’s rock-solid Prius and Rav-4 were off by 3 percent. Land Cruiser increased by 20 percent, but volume was a mere 233 units. Highlander fell only 12.6 percent, but Sienna fell 36 percent, and Sequoia was down 45.6 percent. FJ Cruiser and 4Runner were down 74.8 percent and 78.4 percent respectively. Tundra and Tacoma each fell by about 21 points.

Toyota’s Scion division continued to be a huge disappointment, with no nameplate falling less than 50 percent. The less said there, the better. Lexus saw a 5.5 percent increase from IS sales and a staggering 70 percent bump in RX sales. ES was down 27.7 percent, LS fell below four-digit-sales with a 39.7 percent decline, and GS was down 50.8 percent. LX and GX SUVs were off by 54.4 percent and 65.8 percent respectively.

Compared to its Japanese competitors, Nissan’s car sales were quite steady. Versa lost 23.9 percent but Sentra was down only 5.8 percent and Cube added 2,230 units. Maxima increased 18.1 percent, while Altima slid 24.3 percent and 350/370Z (combined for some reason) were up 53 percent. Frontier saw a staggering 41 percent sales increase, although this was offset by a 33.8 percent decline in Titan sales. Pathfinder increased 37.3 percent, Quest rose 36.1 percent, Xterra was up 8.7 percent and Rogue edged up .7 percent. Murano fell 12.9 percent and Armada was off 13.1 percent.

At Infiniti, a 14.3 percent increase in G-series coupes was accompanied by a 5.8 increase in G-series sedan sales and an inconsequential doubling of QX56 sales to 677 units. On the downside, M-series fell 58.5 percent, EX dropped 56 percent and FX was off 31.3 percent.

The minor slides endured by the Japanese majors proves two points with crystal clarity: first, that Cash For Clunkers pulled sales forward and caused a minor depression in its wake, and second that GM and Chrysler are in a special hell of their own making. Honda’s decline was the worst, but it also disproportionally benefited from C4C. Toyota and Nissan saw smaller increases during C4C and endured smaller declines on the backend. These firms have shown that though the market may swing up and down, their market shares are relatively safe. The same can not be said of GM and Chrysler.” (source)

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