January 2012 Sales: What the Headlines Don’t Tell You

January is usually a slump month for all kinds of retail businesses, and automobile sales in January 2012 reflected the usual post-Christmas malaise. Mainstream news outlets were offering two narratives: Overall sales were up compared to January of 2011, and the Big Three are scoring big numbers. (Some reservations were made for GM, which saw a number of products stall.) You'll have to pardon us for not diving headfirst into the euphoria, though. Estimates released this week show that the growth was largely driven by fleet sales, which increased a whopping 25 percent for the combined overall sales of the biggest seven automakers in the U.S. versus last January. GM, Chrysler, and Toyota were the worst offenders. As for the rest of the market, read on. Halftime in America, Half Built in America Date on which Chrysler first aired its new "Halftime in America" TV ad: 2/5 Date on which Republican strategist Karl Rove criticized the ad for being pro-Obama: 2/6 No. of shares of stock the U.S. government currently holds in Chrysler: 0 Total number of vehicles sold in the U.S. in January 2012: 913,284 Percentage of autos sold in January 2012 that were built in North America: 78 Minimum percentage of autos sold in January 2012 that were built in the U.S.: 51 What the numbers reveal: More than half of the cars and trucks Americans buy were in fact built in the States—but not much more than half. Regardless of anyone's take on Chrysler's ad, millions of vehicles are built here every year and the auto industry is still an enormous part of the U.S. economy. Are we de-industrializing? Not yet. Mainstreaming VW Sales of all Volkswagens in the U.S. in January 2012: 27,209 Sales of the Toyota Camry in the U.S. in January 2012: 28,295 Date on which Volkswagen sold its first Tennessee-made Passat: September 12, 2011 No. of Passats Volkswagen originally said it would build per year in Tennessee: 150,000 No. of Passats built in Tennessee as of February 7, 2012: 50,000 Percentage by which Volkswagen just announced that it will boost capacity: 13 What the numbers reveal: Volkswagen will trumpet its gains every month—it certainly sounds impressive to say sales are up 47.9 percent—but in absolute numbers, the company still is far behind heavy hitters like Toyota (108,731 in January) and Chevrolet (123,864). We can't look past the company's new, almost brazen insistence that it's going to become a major player in the U.S. Some weep for the loss of the previous-gen, MkV Jetta, but sales of the Novocain-injected bar of soap now wearing the Jetta badge have so outpaced those of its predecessor that VW's decision is virtually beyond criticism. Passat production is similarly exploding, and the automaker can't keep up with demand. Think that's impressive? Just wait until the three-row SUV debuts within the next few years. Turbos Lag Combined sales of the 10 bestselling vehicles in January 2012: 226,003 Portion of total vehicle sales for January 2012 that represents: 1 in 4 Number of the top 10 bestsellers that offer turbocharged gasoline engines: 1 What the numbers reveal: Downsizing and turbocharging is the undeniable trend, so many folks say. In many ways, they're right: Both the number of models that offer turbocharged variants and the total volume of turbocharged cars sold here are growing rapidly. But in many of these cases, the turbocharged engine replaces an optional, larger naturally aspirated engine. (For just one example, see the new Ford Fusion.) Base engines in mainstream cars are still for the most part naturally aspirated—and those are still the most popular models. Ford's EcoBoost V-6 (pictured above) has been a surprisingly popular choice in the F-150, however, accounting for more than a third of sales some months. The Mitsubishi Galant Still Exists—Sort Of Mitsubishi Galant sales in January 2012: 1727 GMC Yukon: 2022 Chevy Captiva Sport, which is only sold to fleets: 2261 Toyota Venza: 2460 Hyundai Genesis: 2291 Nissan Frontier: 3782 Mercedes-Benz C-class: 6525 What the numbers reveal: The Mitsubishi Galant competes in the critical and high-volume family-sedan segment; it isn't scheduled to be killed until 2013, but it seems shoppers think that has already happened. The automaker is in serious trouble in the U.S. Lincoln Takes a Beatin' Number of Lincoln models offered during the past year: 6 Number of body styles in which the BMW 3-series is available: 4 No. of months during the past 12 in which the 3-series outsold the Lincoln brand: 11 Approx. cost to renovate a Lincoln showroom, which Ford is recommending: $1 million Percentage of that cost Ford will reimburse dealers: 50 What the numbers reveal: The blue oval's execs can talk themselves blue in the face about Lincoln dealers needing to provide a premium experience, both in terms of facilities and customer service. But the bottom line is that the product isn't there. Lincoln doesn't necessarily need to take on the 3-series—the entry sports-sedan segment is too crowded to scrape up meaningful sales—but the brand does, however, need cars that people actually want to buy. The MKZ concept, which debuted at the Detroit auto show last month, didn't bowl people over, and its stylish Ford Fusion sibling is likely to nab more than a few potential MKZ customers. You can read more about Lincoln's future product plans in our feature story here. Tortoise photo by William Warby, Flickr from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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