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car industry carnage

Car Industry Carnage: US Auto Sales Down 18.8% For June

Everybody knew it was coming, but the extent of the disintegration of the US automotive market came clearly into view today as automakers reported their sales figures for June. During a month when the national average price of gasoline topped an average of four bucks, what does one expect? Well — how about an 18.8% decline in sales. Fercrissakes, the Hummer brand saw a year-over-year fall of almost 60%! Un-freakin'-believable. What we have here folks is an automotive bear market — actually probably the worst bear market in the history of the industry. And like all bear markets, there are some clever companies which manage to shine even during the worst of times. Follow along as we discuss today's car industry carnage. These numbers are sourced from Automotive News as well as directly from manufacturers and are unadjusted unless otherwise noted. More »

industry news

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.]

industry news

Gas Prices Up 8.2%, Hybrid Sales Down 11.0% In May... Wait, What?

There may be no better indicator that many carmakers have been unable to adjust to the sudden increase in gas prices and the resulting shift in consumer demand than hybrid sales. Although there was an obvious run to more fuel-efficient cars — witness the Civic besting the Ford F-150 in overall sales for the first time ever — hybrid sales overall were down 11% from April to May, down 24.3% month-to-month from 2007 and even the market-leading Toyota Prius experienced a 31% drop in sales for the month. How did that happen? There are a few factors at work here, which we've helpfully outlined below the jump. More »

offbeat news

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?

[Carscoop]

industry news

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.)]

industry news

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.



industry news

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.

industry news

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 »

found on ebay

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]

industry news

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 »

industry news

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 »

industry news

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 »

industry news

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 »

industry news

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 »

industry news

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 »

industry news

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 »

industry news

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 »

industry news

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 »