Major automakers report May sales

[rickaren]

Major automakers report May sales

Posted Wednesday, Jun 3, 2009, 9:42 am in Employee News

Here is a list of May U.S. sales for most major auto manufacturers:

▼ 34% Industry total, 939,326 units from 1,420,897 units a year ago

▼ 12% Volkswagen, 27,071 units vs. 30,880 units
▼ 16% Kia, 26,060 units vs. 31,047 units
▼ 20% Hyundai, 36,937 units vs. 46,415 units
▼ 24% Ford, 155,954 units vs. 206,000 units
▼ 28% BMW, 22,993 units vs. 31,781 units
▼ 29% GM, 191,092 units vs. 270,215 units
▼ 33% Mercedes, 16,303 units vs. 24,480 units
▼ 33% Nissan, 67,489 units vs. 100,874 units
▼ 41% Honda, 98,344 units vs. 167,997 units
▼ 41% Toyota, 152,583 units vs. 257,404 units
▼ 47% Chrysler, 79,010 units vs. 148,747 units

The seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) for the U.S. auto industry in May was 10.1 million units compared with April’s 9.4 million unit selling rate and last May’s rate of 14.4 million units.

[rickaren]

Industry sales show uptick

Posted Wednesday, Jun 3, 2009, 11:38 am in Employee News

With May U.S. car and truck sales up 13 percent versus April’s tally, industry experts say the automobile market has finally bottomed out after suffering one of its worst declines in history, The Detroit News reported.

But the experts said any talk of a recovery is premature, the News said. Overall, May light vehicle sales totaled 925,824, which translated into a seasonally adjusted annual selling rate of more than 9.9 million units—better than last month’s 9.3 million, but still down 33.7 percent from May of 2008, the story said.

Prior to the last two weeks of the month, sales had only been up slightly compared with April, but Chrysler LLC’s April 30 bankruptcy filing, and the expectation that General Motors Corp. would soon follow suit, prompted what analysts called “fire sales”—particularly at the hundreds of dealerships Chrysler will close this month in its restructuring,

Ford appeared to be the biggest beneficiary, posting the smallest decline of any of the major carmakers and claiming the biggest gain in market share, according to the News.

Japanese automakers also saw a big sales decline last month, but analysts noted that was compared with much stronger May numbers a year ago, the paper said. Gasoline prices were skyrocketing then, fueling demand for their smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, the story said. (The Detroit News)

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