Car Sales Exceed Expectations In August: Domestics Out Perform Market
DETROIT (WWJ) - Car companies exceeded expectations in August, with many companies posting gains over an exceptionally strong August of 2014. Sales, which were expected to be down four percent, actually fell less than one percent.
"This says a lot about consumer confidence," says Edmunds.com analyst Jeremy Acevedo. "These are huge purchases that folks are making. We're seeing continued growth in the industry. When you look at that, it does say a lot about where people see the economy and where things are going."
August turned out to be a pretty good month for the three Detroit carmakers.
GM sales fell one percent, Fiat Chrysler sales rose two percent, and Ford sales jumped five percent.
"We were a little concerned about the stock market fluctuations," said AutoTrader.com analyst Michelle Krebs. "But, it doesn't appear to be showing up in August sales."
The strong sales this year also come without Labor Day weekend, which was factored into August of 2014.
Strong SUV and pickup sales continued to be the story, helping Fiat Chrysler reach 65 consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains.
"Jeep nailed another double-digit sales increase of 18 percent," said Fiat Chrysler spokesman Nick Cappa. "That makes it the best sales in the history of the Jeep brand."
Ram also saw a sales increase, 6 percent. Fiat was up 1 percent. Dodge fell 15 percent, Chrysler 14 percent.
Ford was helped by strong inventories of the new F-150, and a great debut for new versions of the Explorer and Edge.
"The all star award goes to Ford for really putting together an amazing month," said Truecar President John Krafcik. "They have been guiding everyone that a lot of their sales issues were a result of shortages of the F-150. We saw this month the power of that truck."
General Motors also posted strong SUV and pickup sales. The company would have had an overall sales increase, but has been internationally backing off on fleet sales.
"GM's retail sales increase far outpaced the industry in August, and we have grown our retail share for five months in a row compared to last year," said Kurt McNeil, GM's U.S. vice president of Sales Operations. "We will continue this momentum with the redesigned Chevrolet Cruze and Malibu, the launch of diesel engines for our midsize pickups, a dramatic restyling of the Chevrolet Silverado and the aggressive rollout of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto."
The performance of import brands has been mixed. Volkswagen sales rose 9 percent. Nissan sales dropped 1 percent. Honda saw its sales fall 7 percent. Both Honda and Toyota had very strong performances in August of 2014.
August had another Seasonally Adjusted Annual Sales rate in the mid 17 million range, considered a very strong number for the industry.
Trends are largely consistent with the first part of 2015, despite global economic concerns at the end of the month," said IHS Automotive analyst Stephanie Brinley. "So far, consumer confidence appears to remain strong and fundamentals are holding for a solid 2015. This August is also being compared against a year in which Labor Day sales were counted in August; this year it's the opposite, and Labor Day sales should lead to a healthy September."
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