Nobody is calling January’s vehicle sales robust, but they were promising, even with Toyota’s ongoing recall troubles.
The Seasonally Adjusted Annual Selling rate of 10.8 million did not exactly rate cheers. However, it still beat the estimates of most analysts and prompted General Motors Company to raise its 2010 forecast to between 11.5 million and 12 million units.
In fact, several brands, GM, Ford, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Subaru, Mercedes-Benz and Audi all posted increases of better than 20% and the increases at VW and Mercedes topped 40% over what was an admittedly dismal previous January. Nissan posted a 16% increase, while BMW, Honda and Mazda all reported sales increases in the single digits and Kia’s sales were flat. Chrysler’s sales declines moderated, as sales dropped 8% and Mitsubishi’s sales dropped 4 percent.
The biggest loser, by far, was Toyota where sales dropped 16%, partially because of a government prompted stop sale of eight models. Ward’s Automotive Reports calculated that Toyota sales had dropped in January to the lowest level since 1999 just before the company embarked on its broad expansion plan that by last year had made Toyota the best-selling brand in the U.S. However, in January, Toyota was bested by both Chevrolet and Ford.
Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence data also indicated Toyota consideration and interest among consumers has dramatically dropped since the company recently announced its massive recall. More than 20% of those who said they were considering a Toyota prior to the recall now say they no longer are considering the brand for their next vehicle purchase. In addition, Toyota’s overall brand consideration dropped to third-place and now trails its domestic rivals, first-place Ford and second-place Chevrolet.
The Kelley report tracks with another from CNW marketing.
Bob Carter, Toyota Motor Sales vice president, said that Toyota was actually tracking ahead of its January sales target but wound up 23% behind the target after it stopped sales of eight of its most popular models. The halt cost Toyota sales of between 20,000 and 25,000 units, analysts suggested.
Meanwhile, GM posted a 30% increase in sales thanks to big fleet sales. Roughly two-thirds of the fleet sales went into rental fleets but Susan Docherty, GM vice president of sales, service and marketing said increase in fleet sales would expose more potential customers to GM’s new vehicles.
“This is the fourth month in a row that Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac have shown a collective year-over-year retail sales increase,” said Docherty. “Our long-term plan to continue to focus and strengthen our brands is delivering results,” adding the inventories of unsold Saturns and Pontiacs had dropped to less than 1,000 units, she said.
Ford estimates its January U.S. total market share was approximately 16% – about 2 percentage points higher than in January 2009. Last year, Ford posted its first full-year U.S. market share increase since 1995.
Plus, every consumer metric about the Ford brand – including favorable opinion, consideration, shopping and intention to buy – ended the year at record levels. Last year, favorable opinion improved 27% and intention to buy Ford increased 30%, the company claims.
“People increasingly are discovering that the Ford difference is the strength of our products, particularly our leadership in quality, fuel efficiency, safety, smart technologies and value,” said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president of U.S. sales and marketing.
Both George Pipas, Ford’s top sales analyst, and Mike DiGiovanni, GM’s executive director of global market analysis, said it appears the economy has turned a corner in the past couple of months and appears to stable enough to support better sales in the future.
“We’re off to a steady start for 2010 and we’re optimistic that we can build momentum,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of sales for American Honda.