April light vehicle sales

[rickaren]

April light vehicle sales
May 3rd, 2010


General Motors kicked off the reporting with a 6.4% increase over April 2009. Sales of the four remaining core brands (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC) were up 19.7% largely driven by the Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Equinox, Buick LaCrosse, GMC Terrain and Cadillac SRX which GM says have accounted for roughly 25% of total sales in the first four months of the year. Year-to-date (YTD) sales are up 12.9% overall and 30.7% among the core brands.

The Korean automakers both had good months. Kia sales rose 17.3%, driven by the U.S.-built Sorento, the brand’s volume leader. YTD results are 12.9% ahead of 2009. Hyundai reported a 29.7% gain, marking yet another record and the Korean automaker’s sixteenth month of increased sales. YTD sales are now 19.8% in the black.

Ford sales jumped 24.7% in April; the company is now 33.0% ahead of their January-April 2009 results. All three domestic lines brought in double-digit gains as the Fusion set an April sales record, remaining the hottest American-badged passenger car. Pickup sales remained strong with the F-Series delivering a 42.4% improvement with 40,946 units delivered, keeping it well ahead of the Chevy Silverado, and the Ranger outsold the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon combined with sales up 15.1 percent.

Mercedes-Benz beat its April 2009 numbers by 21% as the E-Class continues to sell briskly. The three-pointed star is now outshining its four-month performance from last year by 22 percent. Meanwhile, Smart sales remain in a slump, down 49.4% for April and 66.9% for the year.

Chrysler beat the most optimistic of the analysts with sales rocketing 25% last month. Both Chrysler and Dodge brands reported 61% gains as car sales soared 96% in April, putting YTD sales 28% ahead of the first third of 2009. Jeep sales almost broke even, missing their April 2009 mark by a mere 25 units. The Town & Country easily beat the other minivans and leads the segment in both April and YTD sales. The Caravan fell 193 units behind the second-place Honda Odyssey but finished well ahead of the Toyota Sienna. Dakota sales were up 36% but Ram sales dropped again, missing their April 2009 mark by 24 percent. The Ram is the only American-badged, full-size pickup still in the red in YTD sales. Still, Chrysler is now 1.9% ahead of this time last year. As an added bonus, Chrysler has once again moved past Nissan back into fifth place among the major automakers.

BMW finished April 10.05 ahead of the same period last year with solid results from the 1-series and 3-series. The new Z4 is miles ahead of its April 2009 results. Mini sales were up 5.1% with modest gains across the board. BMW came wiithin 360 sales of matching Mercedes for April but still lags behind in YTD sales.

Audi set a new April sales record and delivered its second-best all-time monthly result with deliveries up 32.9 percent. Audi outsold Lincoln by more than 2,000 units and now leads Ford’s upscale marque in YTD sales, as well. The A3, A5, A6 and Q5 all reported big gains in April.

Led by a 222.5% increase in sales of the new GTI, Volkswagen sales jumped 42% in April, leaving the leading German automaker 39.4% ahead in YTD sales. The new Golf and Jetta Sportwagen came though with triple-digit leaps and every line except the Chrysler-built Routan reported an increase.

Porsche sales fell 5.7% in April as Cayenne sales plunged 63.2% as the company makes way for a new model. The Panamera was Porsche’s bright spot for the month with sales of 678 units, making it Porsche’s best-selling vehicle so far this year. Cayman/Boxster sales were also improved.

Toyota bought its way to another improved month; sales were up 24.4% but the monthly and YTD totals still leave the leading Japanese automaker in third place based on monthly and YTD sales. Camry sales, though up 10%, fell behind the Silverado and Accord, leaving the perennial top car in an unaccustomed fourth place in YTD sales. For the month, it dropped another peg as the Corolla beat its numbers. Lexus has regained its crown as the top premium brand with a scant 1,025-unit lead over Mercedes in YTD sales.

Honda April sales rose 11.7 percent thanks to good results from the Odyssey, CR-V and Pilot. Acura really shone last month as the MDX and RDX both posted improvements of more than 50 percent.

Nissan sales rose 33.8% in April with nice gains from the Versa and Sentra and a very strong finish from its light truck lines. Infiniti did even better, jumping up 46.2% as the new M posted a 174.8% advance and the G-series sedan and coupe ended the month 54.4% and 44.9% ahead of last year.

Subaru racked up another winning month, 48% to the good compared to last April. A 50% boost from the Legacy and a 133% kick from the Outback did the trick as Subie set another monthly sales record.

Mazda reported its seventh consecutive month of better sales, coming in 17.1% ahead of April 2009. The Mazda3, which had its best April since 2005, joined the CX-7 and CX-9 in delivering the results.

Mitsubishi brought home a second month of sales growth. The Outlander and Galant kept Mitsubishi in the black by 3 percent.

LINK: April light vehicle sales | Allpar Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep News