Hyundai Shoves Ford Out As Fourth Largest Global Automaker, GM Plans Comeback

The Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group is now the fourth largest automaker, besting Ford the first half of 2009. But this year's sales story is about rate of losses, not gains. Toyota better watch its back, GM's losing less and increasing production. More »

Ford F-150 Raptor Production Reaches Maximum Capacity

1,500 orders have already been placed for the 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor, maxing out capacity at the Dearborn plant. That's for 5.4s. The 6.2-liter 400 HP version isn't on sale until winter. [Pickuptrucks.com]

Chrysler Offering $4,000 In Incentives On 2009 Models

Chrysler is offering up to $4,000 worth of incentives on 2009 model year vehicles in a bid to reduce inventory and counter its prolonged sales slump. One discarded sales idea? Building better passenger cars. More »

Audi Surpasses 1 Million Mark In Annual Global Sales

Despite the gloomy Carpocalypse that has the rest of the automotive landscape in shambles; Audi AG has posted a record number of sales for 2008. More »

GM December Sales Down 31.4%, Still US Sales Champ

GM's reporting 221,983 US sales in December, 2008, down 31% compared with a year ago. GM kept the title of US sales leader, with a market share remaining steady at just above 22%.

Chrysler Sales Drop 29% In July

Chrysler LLC has reported a 29% unadjusted July sales decline from the same period a year earlier, primarily due to the market collapse of pickup trucks and large SUVs and a planned reduction in fleet sales. Minivans were a surprising bright spot for the company, with combined Town & Country and Grand Caravan sales enjoying a 21% increase, while incentives on Ram truck helped improve sales significantly over June despite being down 27% from July 2007. Full release after the jump. More »

Honda July Sales Down 9.2%; Cars Set Record

Honda has posted a 9.2% total sales decline for July 2008, adjusted for daily selling rate. While the Japanese manufacturer saw car sales set a record, rising 6.7%, light-truck sales droped 27.8%, dragging down the company's total. The subcompact Honda Fit and the Civic Hybrid broke previous sales records, rising 78.5% and 27.4%, respectively. Full release after the jump. More »

Nissan July Sales Up 8.5%

Sources tell us that Nissan July US sales were up a cumulative 8.5%, but not on the strength of its luxury division. While Nissan brand sales rose 9.9%, the luxury brand Infiniti dropped 2.9% for the month. More details to come as soon as we get them.

Toyota US Sales Drop 18.7% In July

CNBC is reporting Toyota US car sales are down 8.3%. They also claim truck sales have plunged 32%, for a cumulative 18.7% sales drop versus the same month last year. While we don't have a release yet to elaborate, it seems Toyota's recent sales number warnings have been spot-on, and the company is being hit by the deteriorating US market just as hard as the "Big Three." More details as we get them. UPDATE: Toyota press release now posted below the jump. More »

Ford Sales Drop 14.9% In July

Ford sold 161,530 vehicles during the month of July, a drop of 14.9% from the same month last year — and down 21.5% when adjusted per sales day. While we're still sifting through the very lacking-in-focus-but-not-Focus press release, some numbers jump out at us — Volvo saw a drop in sales of 46.3% from the same month last year. Predictably, SUVs were down 54.4%. Still, one bright spot for Ford was car sales, up 7.8%. Oh, and there's something in the monthly sales press release below the jump on the Ford Focus. More »

Honda Pulls First Quarter Profits Out Of Revenue-Decreasing Hat

Honda Motor Company managed an impressive 8.1% increase in net income in the first quarter, bringing total quarterly income to $1.69 billion. Honda managed this despite quarterly revenue dropping by 2.2% to $29.64 billion. So why are Chrysler and Ford losing money hand over fist and Honda making money with despite having to deal with the same rising material costs and decreasing sales in the U.S. market? More »

Hummer Sales Fall 59.3%, Rest Of GM Sales Down 18.5%, Car Industry Carnage Continues

Hummer sold 59.3% fewer vehicles in June this year than it did in June 2007, further fueling questions about the brand's viability. GM's overall sales are down 18.5% for June and 16.5% for the first half of 2008. There's some light at the end of the tunnel though: Malibu and Cobalt sales are soaring. The Malibu is up 73.4% from a year ago, while Cobalt is 21.6% higher. Where will the car industry carnage stop? Check back at the end of the day for a full sales report wrap-up. [source: Automotive News Sub. Req.]

Brits Lose Collective Mind: Fiat 500 Goes For Nearly $400,000

Fiat 500s sell for around $16,000 to $22,000 USD. A little high, perhaps, but not unreasonable. Fiat 500s with some artist's scribbles all over the place apparently sell for around £200,000 (or about $390,540 USD with today's kick ass exchange rate). That's practically brain numbing. Yep, some English artist named Tracey Emin decorated a 500 with... something, titled it "Dark Dark Dark," and convinced some British wierdo to fork over a huge pile of cash (albeit to charity). It's more than likely a write-off for some hedge fund manager, but we sure wouldn't want our money in the hands of that guy. Wonder if Pammy has given him a call yet? More »

Drop-Top Registrations Drop For First Time Since 2003

Automotive News reports convertible registrations, which grew steadily the past several years in the United States, slumped in 2007, dropping 8.6 percent. It's the first year since 2003 there's been a drop in registrations of vehicles designed to let the sun shine on in — even including a 1.2% drop for both No. 1 New York and the 2006 leader, Los Angeles compared with the year before. Apparently the economy hurts everything — convertible sales included. Will the market for 'verts drop even more in 2008? Guess we'll find out about a year from now. [via Automotive News (sub. req.)]

BMW X6 Sells Out

The entire BMW X6 production run for 2008 has been sold. While there are still a smattering of vehicles available at some dealers, every one scheduled to depart the Greenville, SC production facility has been spoken for by a dealer, many of whom report a long waiting list for the new SAC. This doesn't surprise us at all; the X6 is one of the best driving vehicles made by BMW, easily eclipsing sports SUV competitors like the Porsche Cayenne and Range Rover Sport. In fact, in a competition with the Mercedes CLS, we'd put our money on the big bimmer every time. [via BMWBlog] Thanks to Horatiu for the tip. More »

GM Sales Fall 0.6% Over First Quarter, And Yes, The Sky Is Falling In North America

The General just issued a release saying global sales fell 0.6% in the first quarter. The news isn't all bleak — sales in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East rose 19.6%, sales in the Asia-Pacific region grew 5.8%. Heck, they even posted a 3.3% sales increase in Europe. Apparently the increased sales everywhere in the world were offset a bit by that 10% decline in North American automotive sales. Yup, that'll do it. Hey GM, those footsteps you're hearing? It's Toyota. In front of you.

Online Gamers Fleeing US Automakers Like Orcs Fleeing The Demon Aztheroc

As if domestic automakers didn't have enough problems lately, a new study by the Ziff Davis Game Group found that online gamers weren't moved by their offerings. Specifically, the survey found that though the majority of gamers own American-made cars, nearly 80% of those gamers are intending to buy an import. Of these, Toyota and Honda both make up 41% of expected purchases and Nissan makes up 25% (it's unclear if this includes Lexus/Infintit/Acura). Apparently, the Toyota WoW advertising is working. More »

Avoid Parking Lot Disasters- Buy My Ignition Switch!

Back when I was writing catalog copy for a car-parts company with the same name as an X song, I was encouraged to write little stories for the items I was describing. For example, when writing about a wheel cylinder for a '64-72 GM A-body I might make up a scenario involving the reader's Skylark getting cut off by a primered-out '81 Dodge pickup with 150 sheets of drywall in the bed ("...but thanks to your new wheel cylinders, you're able to stop before plowing into several tons of gypsum and rust!"). But my tales were nothing next to this guy and his harrowing description of the reason you want a working ignition switch in your Volvo![eBay Motors]

Satellite Radio Retail Numbers Are Down, Who's To Blame?

As a bit of disclosure, I'll admit that I'm a satellite radio fanatic. So it saddens me to hear that the numbers for December are significantly down. How significant? How about 37.5-percent significant, for, you know, the biggest shopping month of the year. Note that this number is specifically retail, so it only includes all of the aftermarket receivers purchased and suction-cupped to a windshield. So what's with the drop in satellite radio receiver sales? More »

GM Global Sales Up 3.0% To 9.37 Million Vehicles, Possibly Tied With Toyota

GM would prefer you look at the big picture, announcing today that it sold 9,369,524 vehicles worldwide. This brings them to a tie with Toyota, which announced they sold 9.37 million vehicles (but has yet to give us the total number). Globally, this was a 3.0% increase over 2006 and the second best global sales number in the company's history. All of this was despite a 6.1% year-over-year decrease in North American sales, which still makes up more than half of the company's total sales volume. Compared to 2006, GM Europe saw a sales increase of 8.9%, GM Asia Pacific saw an increase of 15.1% and GMLAAM (Latin America, Africa, Middle East) increased 19%. More »

Honda Sales Up For 2007... Acura Not So Much

Honda recorded it's 14th consecutive year-over-year sales increase after selling 1.55 million vehicles in 2007, up 2.5% over 2006. For the month of December, Honda's sales were up by 14 vehicles to 131,972 compared to 131,778 cars in the previous year. "We sold 14 more Fits, break out the bubbly!" The Accord saw a year-over-year sales increase of 10.3%, the Civic 4.2%, the CR-V 28.5% and the Fit 101.4% to 56,432 vehicles. Acura saw a year-over-year decrease of 10.8%, due in part to aging models and increased competition from Infiniti, Lexus and Cadillac. The only two Acura models to show increases in 2007 were the MDX (7.9%) and the RDX (154%), though the RDX didn't go on sale until late 2006. Overall hybrid sales for 2007 were down 4.5%, due primarily to the Accord Hybrid being dropped in September. Full press release below the jump. More »

Chrysler Sales Also Down In 2007, Completes The Domestic Hat Trick

Unlike GM and Ford, Chrysler saw an increase of 1% in sales for December 2007 compared the previous December. That's what they'd like you to focus on, please. They'd rather you ignore the fact that for 2007 total sales were 2.08 million vehicles, a decrease of 3% from 2006. The Chrysler brand saw a year-over-year decrease of 10% due to decreasing sales from the 300, PT Cruiser and Pacifica, as well as a decrease in Town & Country sales as customers waited for the new model. Jeep saw an increase in sales of 3% in 2007, led by the new Jeep Compass and the Wrangler. Dodge stayed near steady, losing just 2%. The introduction of the new Town & Country/Caravan helped the company's performance in December and should continue to do so into the next year. Full press release below the jump: More »

GM Sales Decrease In 2007, But People Love The Aveo

GM was able to find customers for 3.87 million vehicles in 2007, which is a decrease of 6% compared with 2006. Overall, GM predicts market share will be flat as there's much less daily rental share (as planned, they'll remind you). The two brands that did well in 2007 compared to last year were GMC (up 5.1%) and Saturn (up 6.1%). For December, GM was only down 5% compared with a year ago, though Aveo sales were up 82%. Hummer continues to slide with a decrease of 23.0% in December 2007 compared to December 2006. In case you were wondering GM, that's Toyota in your mirrors. Press release below the jump. More »

Toyota Sales 2007 Sales Up, Up & Away In 2007

Toyota continued to muscle its way into more market share with best ever year-end sales of 2.6 million vehicles, up 2.7% over 2006. If you're paying attention, that's slightly more than Ford... thus putting Toyota as the #2 automaker. All hail our new hybrid overlords. For the month of December the automaker was down 1.7% from December 2006, which seems to be a theme with most large volume automakers. For 2007 the Toyota Division reported sales up 2.7% from 2006, with Lexus reporting an increase of 9.1% over the same period. It's interesting to note that Toyota sold 277,750 hybrids in 2007, up 44% from 2006. The Lexus LS 460/460L and 600h L saw a combined increase in sales of 35,226 units, an increase of nearly 80% over the 2006 LS models. Full press release below the jump. More »

Have You Driven A Ford Lately? Probably Not. Ford Sales Down In December, 2007

First, the bad news: sales for Ford were 212,094 for December, down 9% from the previous December. Ford's total 2007 sales were 2.57 million, down 12% compared with 2006. But there's a silver lining on that blue cloud as Lincoln posted a 9% increase in sales in 2007 after a significant realignment of their product and the success of the MKX. Land Rover also realized a 3.7% increase in sales for 2007, though this fact is overshadowed by the 24.2% decrease for India-bound Jaguar. The Ford F-Series truck was also the best-selling truck in 2007 for the 31st consecutive year, a record Ford refuses to ever abandon. Full press release below the jump: More »

Ford SYNC-ed Up With Customers, Selling Twice As Many SYNC Models

According to Ford, the company sold Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models equipped with the SYNC system more than twice as fast as those same models without SYNC. While there's probably more to this than just the popularity of SYNC system (how many non-SYNC MKZ's get built?), it can't be ignored that people have to be motivated to fork over the $395 premium it takes to get one on non-standard models. Until other automakers step up, Ford will continue to benefit from the system. Press release below the jump. More »

Chrysler Sales Down 2% or Up -2% Depending on Perspective

Overall, Chrysler moved 161,088 new vehicles in November, down approximately 2.0% compared to 2006. Home prices, fuel prices, squirrel attacks, blah blah blah. The good news is that Chrysler brand car sales are up 9%, Sebring Convertible sales are up 946% (mayhaps a bit misleading) and Dodge sales up 6%. The bad news is that overall Chrysler Brand vehicles are down 13% thanks to a decrease in sales of the PT Cruiser (-50%), Aspen (-36%) and Pacifica (-35%). Jeep lost 2% due to decreases at both ends with the Commander sliding 28% and Compass sliding 45%. More fun with numbers in the press release below the jump: More »

Toyota Sales Up Overall, Lexus Down Despite Giant Red Bows

This is what we get for putting too much faith in fancy wrapping paper. Toyota Motor Company was able to move 197,189 vehicles in November, up 0.3% from the previous year (break out the champagne). Despite disruptions in the housing market and increased fuel costs, Toyota moved approximately 6.2% more passenger cars. This includes a 109.0% increase in Prius sales. Lexus was down 7.0% for the month, with less people buying Lexus SUVs and large sedans. Gas prices didn't slow down sales of the Tundra, which increased 43.2%, though a dated design hurt sales of the Tacoma. Full press release below the jump: More »

Honda Sales up 4.7% for November, No One Wants an Acura for Hanukkah

American Honda Motor Company reported record November sales of 111,431 Honda and Acuras, up 4.7% over the previous year. With the exception of the Accord Hybrid and S2000, all Honda models posted increases, including a 25.2% increase for the new Accord and a 106.0% increase for the Fit. On the other hand, Acura sold only 12,910 vehicles, down 24.9% from the previous November. This isn't surprising given newer models from Infiniti and increased competition from Cadillac. Also, there aren't enough commercials of people buying TSX's with bows on the roof. The full details below the jump: More »

GM Reports an 11% Decrease in Sales for November

It was a rough November for GM, with the company reporting total sales of 263,654 vehicles, representing a drop of 11% from November 2006. Though this can be partially blamed on a planned reduction in rental fleet sales, the big news is that the General is have a rough time selling trucks, with a 14.9% year-over-year decrease in light trucks/SUV's and a 15.5% in trucks. Hummer stumbled as well, with a 30.5% year-over-year decrease. In the silver lining department, the new CTS has seen a 15% increase in sales and the Chevy Malibu is up 40% compared to last year (pushing overall Chevy car sales up 15%). None of this would have happened if they'd have landed the Knight Rider gig. The full report below the jump: More »

Ford Sales Up For First Time in 12 Months, Mission Accomplished!

It's taken 12 months of steady declines (strategic withdrawals) before Mark Fields could claim a victory in sales, by selling 182,951 cars in November. That's a whopping 0.4% increase over November 2006. Most surprisingly, the refreshed and SYNC-ed Ford Focus realized growth of 18% compared with last year. Sales of crossovers were up 119% compared with last year, thanks to the support of the Edge and MKX. How much of this is SYNC actually propelling sales or just a reflection of how poor things were last November is uncertain, but it's a bit of good news for the automaker. Press release below the jump More »

Canadians Taking American Cars, Leaving Barenaked Ladies

With the U.S. dollar falling even with Canadian currency, our northern neighbors are going loonie for American cars... or at least cars sold in America. According to the North American Automobile Trade Association, there's been a 68% increase in cross-border sales since September. This currency fluctuation provides another impetus for Canadians &mdash they already feel cheated when it comes to buying new cars, often paying thousands more than Americans for the same automobile. More »

Welcome To The Club, Aussies Beaten By Toyota

Toyota single-handidly bested the combined efforts of Australia-based Holden and Ford in new car sales in October, a first for the Japanese automaker (though we're guessing not a last). Toyota has been the market leader in Australia for the last four years, but the 20,212 vehicles it sold in October just eclipsed the 19,621 vehicles sold by Holden and Ford combined. Even worse for the homeboys, Holden and Ford were part of only 7 out of 42 brands that didn't post sales increases in October. Toyota execs continued to be annoyingly polite, suggesting that their competitors would bounce back when they updated their lineups later that year. More »

German Car Market in Das Ditch

The Germans love Hasselhoff, but don't necessarily love buying new cars. For the tenth straight month in a row the year-over-year domestic sales slumped, marking a decline of 7.8% in new car registrations over the first ten months of 2006. Maybe it's because they make cars too reliable? Good financing rates? Industry officials are citing a three percentage point hike in the value-added tax and uncertainty among buyers over the ongoing climate debate. We buy the first one, but wouldn't getting rid of your old diesel Benzie and replacing it with a newer, cleaner car help the environment?[Reuters]

GM Products Selling Like Cakes Slightly Hotter Than Last Year's Cakes

The General managed to move 310,008 vehicles this last October (more than 100K over Ford), representing the third month of year-over-year growth. This also represents the fourth month where GM market share was above 24%. But maybe these numbers don't make sense to you, maybe you need some energized corporate-speak to clarify the situation: "Our strong market share performance and our ability to outpace industry trends on volume demonstrates the consumer acceptance of our new products," said Mark LaNeve, GM North America vice president, Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. That must be it. Press release after the jump: More »

GM Shocks Yet Again With September Sales Up 3.8%!

For a second straight month, the General went against the flow of pre-announcement expectations and saw an uptick in sales — September sales were up 3.8% over the same month last year. But what was really interesting was those numbers were up yet again on light truck sales. The pickup trucks were up 7.7% during September. Who knew GM could still sell trucks with construction, consumer confidence and the amount of gas you can buy for a dollar dropping like a rock? Full sales release after the jump. More »