Car Sales: Best July Since 2007, Almost Everybody Up, Truck Sales Yield Big 3 Market Share Gains

The recovery of the auto industry in the U.S. continues with July sales being the best in seven years, up 14% from last year. Every domestic and foreign based automakers had increased year to year sales, with double digit gains at six companies. Leading the pack were Honda, Toyota and General Motors, with sales up 21, 17 and 16 percent respectively. Ford, Chrysler and Nissan each were up 11%. Subaru, whose North American sales helped parent Fuji Heavy Industries to record earnings, had the best year to year performance, up 43%. The seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate, SAAR, was just below analysts' forecast at 15.7 million cars and light trucks. The strong July sales are expected to help total U.S. sales in 2013 to be the best since 2007′s 16.1 million units, analysts forecast 15.5. For the year through July, U.S. sales are up 8% industry wide. In the actual sales race, the top five were led by GM with 234,071 units sold. Toyota was next with 193,394, just 314 units ahead of Ford. Honda was in fourth place at 141,439, with Chrysler close behind at 140,102. As the housing and construction industries recover and the shale energy boom continues, pickup sales, Detroit's bread and butter, have allowed the domestic brands to gain market share. GM's sales of full size pickups were up 44%. All four brands at GM were up by double digits, with Cadillac and Chevrolet up 17% from 2012, Chevy's best monthly year to year gain in over a year. F-series pickups at Ford weren't up as much as GM's pickups, 23%, but they still outsold the Silverado and Sierra slightly with 60,449 units sold. Overall, Ford deliveries were up 12% while Ford's luxury Lincoln volume slid 1%. Nissan's luxury brand, Infiniti, was also off, though by a much larger percentage, 33% but that was more than offset by a 17% increase in deliveries at the larger volume Nissan brand. Chrysler deliveries were up for the 40th straight month, paced by strong Ram pickup sales. All Chrysler brands were up, including Fiat at 2%, except for the Chrysler brand itself, down 4% for the month. Jeep sales are down 4% for the year so far, due to the discontinuation of the Liberty and the slowed introduction of its Cherokee replacement. Hyundai had a record July with 66,005 units sold and Mazda had it's best gain in a year and a half, up 29% from 2012, on very strong sales of the CX-5 and CX-9 light trucks and an 18% increase in car sales. Subaru also had strong sales for July, putting the company within reach of 400K units for the year and keeping it ahead of VW for the month, which was down 3%. VW did have some good news, with the brand's heavily promoted TDI diesel engines having a big increase in take rate, up to almost 30% across the brand and nearly 40% for the Passat. Strong sales of the Q5 and Q7 SUVs paced sales at VW's Audi brand, which were up 12%. Automaker July 2013 July 2012 Pct. chng. 7 month 2013 7 month 2012 Pct. chng.     BMW division 24,043 21,297 13% 164,474 147,801 11%     Mini 5,950 5,855 2% 38,306 37,914 1%     Rolls-Royce 84 79 6% 588 553 6% BMW Group 30,077 27,231 11% 203,368 186,268 9%     Chrysler Division 19,978 20,792 –4% 183,817 188,546 –3%     Dodge 41,986 35,630 18% 360,400 297,208 21%     Dodge/Ram 74,064 60,028 23% 567,540 464,089 22%     Fiat 3,783 3,710 2% 25,395 24,416 4%     Jeep 42,277 41,559 2% 271,682 283,106 –4%     Ram 32,078 24,398 32% 207,140 166,881 24% Chrysler Group 140,102 126,089 11% 1,048,434 960,157 9%     Maybach – 4 –100% – 28 –100%     Mercedes-Benz 25,563 21,516 19% 176,996 159,398 11%     Smart USA 860 780 10% 5,319 5,528 –4% Daimler AG 26,423 22,300 19% 182,315 164,954 11%     Ford division 186,161 166,507 12% 1,437,609 1,264,928 14%     Lincoln 6,919 6,975 –1% 45,207 48,937 –8% Ford Motor Co. 193,080 173,482 11% 1,482,816 1,313,865 13%     Buick 16,393 14,391 14% 117,230 104,589 12%     Cadillac 15,652 13,417 17% 99,331 76,229 30%     Chevrolet 162,670 138,942 17% 1,177,804 1,100,604 7%     GMC 39,356 34,487 14% 260,052 235,528 10% General Motors 234,071 201,237 16% 1,654,417 1,516,950 9%     Acura 15,150 12,825 18% 92,131 85,761 7%     Honda Division 126,289 104,119 21% 794,886 732,165 9% Honda (American) 141,439 116,944 21% 887,017 817,926 8%     Hyundai division 66,005 62,021 6% 427,015 418,690 2%     Kia 49,004 48,074 2% 326,355 336,781 –3% Hyundai Group 115,009 110,095 5% 753,370 755,471 0%     Jaguar 1,613 1,011 60% 9,411 7,517 25%     Land Rover 4,050 3,320 22% 27,034 24,311 11% Jaguar Land Rover 5,663 4,331 31% 36,445 31,828 15% Maserati 267 208 28% 1,536 1,496 3% Mazda 24,977 19,300 29% 169,920 163,097 4% Mitsubishi 5,230 4,194 25% 35,699 37,067 –4%     Infiniti 7,762 11,619 –33% 59,995 65,996 –9%     Nissan Division 101,279 86,722 17% 673,755 610,066 10% Nissan 109,041 98,341 11% 733,750 676,062 9% Subaru 35,994 25,183 43% 240,591 189,487 27% Suzuki* – 2,266 –100% 5,946 15,260 –61%     Lexus 23,031 18,235 26% 141,446 126,367 12%     Scion 6,261 6,904 –9% 41,261 42,025 –2%     Toyota division 164,102 139,759 17% 1,119,478 1,042,602 7%     Toyota/Scion 170,363 146,663 16% 1,160,739 1,084,627 7% Toyota 193,394 164,898 17% 1,302,185 1,210,994 8%     Audi 13,064 11,707 12% 87,341 76,865 14%     Bentley 206 172 20% 1,380 1,249 11%     Lamborghini* 46 43 7% 322 301 7%     Porsche 3,820 2,803 36% 25,129 19,253 31%     VW division 35,779 37,014 –3% 242,571 245,739 –1% Volkswagen 52,915 51,739 2% 356,743 343,407 4% Volvo Cars NA 5,909 5,717 3% 38,487 40,333 –5% 253 246 3% 1,771 1,717 3% TOTAL 1,313,844 1,153,801 14% 9,134,810 8,426,339 8%   Chart: Automotive News. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 680102