Showing posts with label US August 2010 Sales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US August 2010 Sales. Show all posts
Monday, September 13, 2010

Large Car Sales And Large Luxury Car Sales In America - August 2010

Up 72% so far this year, sales of the BMW 7-Series were far stronger than the performance put forward by any other large luxury car competing for marketshare in the USA in August 2010. Last year at this time the BMW 7-Series was trailing the Mercedes-Benz S-Class by a healthy margin. Through two-thirds of 2010, it looks as though the BMW's 947-unit lead over the S-Class is insurmountable. All this has occurred with rising S-Class sales. It should be noted, however, that the Jaguar XJ is presently Jaguar's best-selling model. August sales jumped 755% compared with August 2009.

Setting aside the bargain-priced Chevrolet Impala and the Chrysler brothers for just a moment, have a look at the revitalized 2010 Ford Taurus (up 50.7%), handsome Buick LaCrosse (up 89.6%), and surprisingly successful Nissan Maxima (up 14.8%). Even a handful of years ago, this segment was believed dead in light of huge volume sellers like the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. The Taurus, LaCrosse, and Maxima sold in greater numbers in August than the Mazda 6, Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Avenger, Volkswagen Passat, and Kia Optima. 

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Midsize Car Sales And Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America - August 2010

Car sales were down 31% in the United States in August. "Down 31%" is a figure which goes back to August 2009, a month in which Cash For Clunkers stimulated car sales rather effectively. Whether Cash For Clunkers did anything to keep the industry alive or "green up" America's car fleet I know not, but new car sales shot through the roof. Without Cash For Clunkers, August 2010 had no chance of looking good. But even with these facts in mind, certain vehicles aren't able to hide their lackluster performances behind the Cash For Clunkers shadow.

Let's look at the stunning 2011 Buick Regal. She is a beauty. Of course, beauty is only skin-deep. Fortunately the 2011 Regal is also a pleasant car to drive, even if you want to give'er a little in the twisties. Nevertheless, the Regal's sales growth has been suspended; hopefully temporarily. From 150 U.S. sales in May to 321 U.S. sales in June to 1703 U.S. Sales in July, the new Regal was showing signs of catching on. But then August's Sales Stats came in and Regal sales totalled just 1704, a gain of 1, as you can see in the Graph below. Interestingly, Buick can't blame a slow sales month for the growth suspension. See, sales of the Buick Enclave, Buick LaCrosse, and Buick Lucerne improved compared to last August. Even without the 2011 Regal, Buick sales rose by 2274 units. 

And if a chart which contrasts the Regal's poor sales with high-volume midsize sedans isn't fair to your eyes, scroll down to see supposedly lower-volume midsize luxury sedans, vehicles which are marketed at a much higher price point. The Mercedes-Benz E-Class beat the Regal by 4178 sales. The Acura TSX, Buick's target for the Regal? Acura nabbed over 2400 buyers for their smallest sedan. Perhaps there is a stock issue for General Motors; perhaps the naturally-aspirated 4-cylinder's price doesn't make for favourable comparisons with the larger LaCrosse. (That's sort of what The Good Car Guy said regarding Canadian Sales Stats last month.)One way or another, Regal sales should rise in the future. Present stagnation is most likely a blip on the radar. Or so Buick hopes.

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Sunday, September 12, 2010

Compact Luxury Car Sales And Small/Entry Luxury Car Sales In America - August 2010

The civil sales war between Germany's BMW and Mercedes-Benz is so close that a typical windshield survey says the 3-Series and C-Class are similarly popular in America over the last few months. A completely atypical analysis says there was an extra 44 3-Series Bimmers sold per state in August 2010. Compare that to last August when BMW sold more than twice as many small/entry luxury cars in America. 

BMW's dominance in the small/entry luxury car category as a whole is even more.... er, dominant. The 1-Series was by far America's favourite in the sub-3-Series segment in August, nearly out-selling its three competitors combined. Among luxury automakers, BMW was the best-seller in August, so these Sales Stats should come as no surprise. What is surprising is the drop suffered at Audi: A4 sales tumbled at a rate of 25.2% while the A3's 85-unit improvement wasn't nearly enough to make up for the A4's slide. 

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Saturday, September 11, 2010

Subcompact Car Sales And Compact Car Sales In America - August 2010

This marks the end of Ford's excuses for the 2011 Fiesta. Hurricanes, train tracks, parts suppliers.... I don't care anymore. Sales figures for the Fiesta haven't been up to where they should be yet, beaten soundly by four competitors in the USA in August, and Ford has been in a valid place with its reasons why. Come September Sales Stats, however, and low-rung Ford Fiesta sales volume will be criticized for what it is: the results of what appears to be an overpriced subcompact car. August Fiesta sales were actually lower than July's.

One size segment up, Ford isn't struggling to sell the highly incentivized Focus. Only the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla were more popular compact cars in America in August 2010. Again, thanks discounts... and SYNC. GM's small car numbers should improve dramatically in the near future with the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze now in production in Lordstown, Ohio. Images of the 2012 Chevrolet Aveo bode well for the subcompact segment, as well.

CLICK GRAPH FOR LARGER VIEW
CLICK GRAPH FOR LARGER VIEW

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
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Thursday, September 9, 2010

Niche Car Sales And Niche SUV And Truck Sales In America - August 2010

If you want a unique vehicle, I'm not sure the Jeep Wrangler is the best bet anymore. Sure, it's a whole lot different than the run-of-the-mill Toyota Camry or garden variety Ford F-150, but the Wrangler is - among SUVs at least - almost as ubiquitous. Slightly restyled recently, the 2011 Jeep Wrangler is still a GoodCarBadCar.net favourite, but a 37% sales increase in August might mean your neighbour has one, too. And that doesn't make you unique.

Cash For Clunkers, which ran last summer, was designed to, among other things, support the sales growth of fuel-efficent cars. Family cars don't get much more fuel-efficient than the Toyota Prius. We weren't surprised to see August 2009 sales of the Toyota Prius, therefore, jump 47% from August 2008 levels. Now we can't say we're surprised to see Toyota suffer through a 37.5% decline in Prius sales. Still immensely popular in the United States, the Prius's most current sales figures reflect artificially inflated August 2008 results. Even so, Prius sales were lower  last month than they were in August of 2008, too. 

Get info on the Sales Stats for the Wrangler, Prius, and many other niche market vehicles in the Graphs below.
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Sporty Car Sales And Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - August 2010

The 2011 Honda CR-Z made its showroom debut in the United States last month. By the 31st of August, 694 Honda CR-Zs had been sold. Introduced to mixed reviews, the CR-Z is a sometimes handsome, sometimes ugly hybrid sportster with just a handful of horsepower but plenty of personality.

True sporting success was seen in the BMW Z4 last month, the always handsome BMW Z4, that is. Sales of the Spartanburg, South Caroline-built Z4 improved 120% compared to August 2009. Oh, and a couple more things: joining the CR-Z as new members of the Sporty & Sporty Luxury Car Sales Graph this month are the Volkswagen GTI and Scion tC. GTI sales are also included in total Volkswagen Golf sales in the Compact Car Sales section.

With fewer than 1,400 sales to their credit, the high-end Premium Sporty Cars in the Graph below may not seem important in volume terms, but their high pricetags bear much fruit for their respective automakers (excepting the Cadillac XLR, of course). Though Porsche may seem all about the Panamera and Cayenne these days, the 911 Carrera and its many brothers are vitally important. 375 August sales testify to that fact. 
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Minivan Sales And Muscle Car Sales In America - August 2010

Apart from strong performances by American automobile manufacturers, what do muscle cars and minivans have in common?

Basically nothing, which is why The Good Car Guy throws their Graphs together each month. For contrast's sake. If you think the Chevrolet Camaro (muscle car victor in August after a lull) and 2011 Ford Mustang are protected from embarrassment by being joined together with low-volume American machinery like the Corvette and Viper, think again. Later on, you'll see a Graph in which the Nissan 370Z and Volkswagen GTI and Mitsubishi Eclipse all display their own low-volume status. In 2010, the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro are big time earners for Ford Motor Company and General Motors.

As far as minivans go, the 2011 Honda Odyssey could shake things up a bit in the coming months, but for now, there's no exception to the general rule that says, "Chrysler first; everyone else follow the leader". That said, sales of the current 2010 Honda Odyssey, Toyota's Swagger Wagon Sienna, Kia Sedona, and the Chryler Town & Country are all up compared with August 2009. Mazda 5 sales fell 40% in August. Kia has cancelled the Rondo and sales in August (94) were so low the Rondo didn't earn a spot in the Minivan Sales Graph. North of the border, Canadians eat the Rondo up. 
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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Large SUV Sales And Large Luxury SUV Sales In America - August 2010

The Infiniti QX56 more than doubled its August 2009 sales total last month. When America was a wee bit gung-ho for fuel efficient vehicles last year during Cash For Clunkers, the theory that a full-size luxury SUV based on the Nissan Armada (and then the Nissan Patrol) would double its volume in 2010 would have been laughed at. Through August 31st, the jumbo Infiniti, now available as the improved 2011 Infiniti QX56, had posted a 101% sales increase over 2009 levels. The QX is out-selling the Infiniti FX and Infiniti EX in America this year.

Less expensive but similarly successful in August 2010, the Nissan Armada was one of six large mainstream SUVs to improve sales last month. Only the Chevrolet Suburban and Kia Borrego were worse off this August than in August of 2009.

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Midsize SUV Sales And Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In America - August 2010

Here's a question nobody will ever be able to answer: how many Lambda platform CUVs would General Motors have sold in August 2010 if there was still a Saturn Outlook? What if GM had kept Pontiac and decided to sell a G9 in addition to the Outlook, Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, and GMC Acadia? My guess is the total would have been somewhere under 18,000, perhaps no more than 16,668. For avid Sales Stats watchers, the Buick Enclave accounted for 4,595 of GM's Lambda sales in August; the Traverse brought in 7,850; and the GMC Acadia finished third with 4,223. 

Thus, as single elements, both the Ford Edge and Honda Pilot fared better in August, particularly the Honda which posted improved sales over August 2009.

In the luxury midsize SUV/CUV category, the arrival of the 2011 Porsche Cayenne helped Zuffenhausen's most famous brand post a 52% SUV sales gain. Other Germans with better Augusts this year than last included the Audi Q7 and BMW X5. Land Rover LR4 sales increased 292% in August. For details on every midsize SUV/CUV/crossover/utility whatchamacallit, check out the Graphs below.
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Small SUV Sales And Small Luxury SUV Sales In America - August 2010

Honda CR-V sales suffered greatly in August 2010, at least compared with August 2009 when Honda sold over 30,000 CR-Vs. Nevertheless, the CR-V, America's best-selling utility vehicle last year, is closing the year-to-date gap on the Ford Escape. With four months to go, the gap between the CR-V and Escape is now less than 2,500 units despite Ford's gigantic early lead.

It takes the combined efforts of GM's two small SUV entries, the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain, to tie the Toyota RAV4. In the case of the Equinox and RAV4, sales tumbled compared with August 2009, but keep in mind, Cash For Clunkers skewed automotive Sales Stats last year at this time.

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Monday, September 6, 2010

Chevrolet vs Ford : Bowtie vs Blue Oval - August 2010 In The USA

Hurricane Earl worked with a vacation and new Graph formatting to delay U.S. August 2010 auto sales data from being published on GoodCarBadCar.net. Yet here they are ready for your viewing pleasure, beginning with a look at the Chevrolet vs Ford battle in the USA. Value-oriented brands struggled in August, at least when compared to August 2009 Sales Stats. As a whole, Ford Motor Company's Ford brand suffered a 10.7% drop compared to August 2009. GM's Chevrolet brand was labelled with a 21.5% plummet.

Nevertheless, pickup truck sales improved, but the only Chevrolet in this group to improve on last August's total was the 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. As for Ford, the 2011 Ford Fiesta was the only Ford among the six in this chart to improve; not a hard task considering its nonexistent-in-North America status last August.
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Friday, September 3, 2010

Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - August 2010

Up 706.4% from August 2009's total, the 2011 Kia Sorento (and two previous-generation Sorentos) pushed the Kia logo into sixth position among America's Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs in August 2010. The 2011 Sorento, a GoodCarBadCar.net pick of the crop among small and midsize utility vehicles, is already being improved, Autoblog reports. New shock absorbers will soften the Sorento's ride without killing its dynamics. 

Successful though the Sorento may have been in contrast with August of 2009, Kia's middle-rung SUV still doesn't measure up to the Honda CR-V in terms of overall volume. Down 33.2% from August 2009's C4C level, the CR-V still managed to out-pace all other SUVs and crossovers in August 2010. With 128,507 sales so far this year, however, the Ford Escape is out-selling the Honda CR-V by 2,128 units year-to-date. Check out the Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs in America for the month of August 2010 in the list below.

#10 - Chevrolet Traverse: 7,850
Last month: 9,977
August 2009: 11,465

#9 - Honda Pilot: 8,484
Last month: 9,570
August 2009: 7,800

#8 - Lexus RX: 8,506
Last month: 8,162
August 2009: 9,317

# 7 - Ford Edge: 8,951
Last month: 9,342
August 2009: 20,933

#6 - Kia Sorento: 9,038
Last month: 9,010
August 2009: 1,121

#5 - Nissan Rogue: 10,133
Last month: 10,963
August 2009: 10,476

#4 - Chevrolet Equinox: 10,538
Last month: 9,869
August 2009: 13,157

#3 - Toyota RAV4: 14,727
Last month: 15,979
August 2009: 18,312

#2 - Ford Escape: 14,838
Last month: 14,869
August 2009:

#1 - Honda CR-V: 19,451
Last month: 20,058
August 2009: 30,284

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - August 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - September 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - July 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - August 2010
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - August 2010
Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In America - August 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In Canada - August 2010
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Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - August 2010

Among America's ten most popular cars from August 2010, only the Chevrolet Malibu and Hyundai Sonata managed to sell at a higher volume than a year ago at this time. August 2009, of course, was impacted by Cash For Clunkers. Repeating such volume was always going to be difficult. For greater perspective, check out America's Top 10 Best-Selling Cars from July 2010 or even America's Top 5 Best-Selling Cars from September 2009. 

As for last month, the 2011 Hyundai Sonata certainly made a move toward challenging for the top spot. It would surprise only casual observers if Hyundai could - even for just one month - strip Toyota and Honda of their smug attitudes and become America's best-selling car. The all-new Sonata is certainly Hyundai's first shot at accomplishing such a feat.

Apart from the large Chevrolet Impala, for which an argument could be made that it is a competitor for numerous cars on this list, America's favourite cars come from just two automotive segments. Sometime next week you'll be able to see those two segments expanded here and here. It must be noted, also, that the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla/Matrix, Chevrolet Malibu and Ford Fusion all suffered a decline from July 2010 Sales Stats levels.

#10 - Ford Focus: 15,466
Last month: 15,417
August 2009: 25,547

#9 - Ford Fusion: 17,082
Last month: 17,406
August 2009: 21,010

#8 - Chevrolet Impala: 17,343
Last month: 14,565
August 2009: 20,473

#7 - Chevrolet Malibu: 18,182
Last month: 20,458
August 2009: 17,348

#6 - Nissan Altima: 18,491
Last month: 18,275
August 2009: 26,833

#5 - Toyota Corolla/Matrix: 20,280
Last month: 27,345
August 2009: 43,061

#4 - Hyundai Sonata: 21,399
Last month: 17,836
August 2009: 11,815

#3 - Honda Civic: 22,803
Last month: 23,231
August 2009: 43,294

#2 - Honda Accord: 25,148
Last month: 25,386
August 2009: 39,726

#1 - Toyota Camry: 30,764
Last month: 35,058
August 2009: 54,396

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
 Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - August 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - September 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - July 2010
 U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - August 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - August 2010
Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In America - August 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - August 2010
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