Ford, GM Sales Up Double Digits in June
Published: Thursday, 1 Jul 2010 * 12:13 PM ET Text Size By: ReutersDiggBuzz FacebookTwitter More Share
Ford says its US sales of brand names were up in June 13.3 percent over the same time last year. The automaker says the results were based on new model sales.
Source: ford.com
2010 Ford Taurus
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And Chrysler says its sales were up 35 percent, beating expectations. It's the third year over year sales improvement for Chrysler.
General Motors reported a 10.7 percent rise in June U.S. sales, helped by strong demand for newly launched vehicles such as the Chevrolet Equinox crossover and a recovery in truck sales.
The largest U.S. automaker sold 195,380 vehicles in June, up from 176,571 vehicles the same month a year ago.
GM had filed for a U.S. government-funded bankruptcy on June 1, 2009.
Sales for GM's four remaining brands—Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac— jumped 36 percent from a year earlier to 194,828 vehicles.
Sales of the brands GM has dropped through its bankruptcy restructuring—Hummer, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn —plunged 98 percent to 552 vehicles as dealers sold off remaining inventory.
Analysts expected most automakers, led by GM, to show double-digit percentage gains in sales from the depressed sales results of a year earlier. That would represent the eighth consecutive month of year-on-year gains.
Industry tracking firm Edmunds.com expected gains of 17 percent for GM, while projecting gains of 33 percent for Chrysler and 17 percent for Ford. [F 10.24 0.16 (+1.59%) ]
Toyota [TM 68.33 -0.24 (-0.35%) ] , tarnished by a series of safety recalls earlier this year, lagged rivals even after it extended sales incentives for a fourth consecutive month to win back consumers, Edmunds said.
The forecasting firm expects Toyota to post gains of 9 percent in June U.S. sales, less than gains of 10 percent and 25 percent it sees for Honda and Nissan, respectively.
Overall, incentives in June held flat from May but rose 6 percent from a year ago led by Toyota, industry tracking firm Truecar.com said. Toyota spent 33 percent more on discounts per vehicle in June than a year ago, sharply above the industry's average of $2,870 per vehicle.
"With the recovery not progressing as expected, it's gut-check time for the automotive industry," Schuster said.
"The industry's (pricing) discipline will be put to the test even more in the coming months if a more pronounced recovery doesn't get under way."
One key measure for the industry will be retail sales of cars, trucks, SUVs and crossovers. Sales gains in recent months, especially for Detroit automakers, have been boosted by sales of less-profitable vehicles to fleet operators, including car rental agencies.
Most automakers do not break out how many of their sales went to consumers and how many to fleet operators.
In one indicator of underlying consumer demand, AutoNation Inc, the leading auto dealership chain, will release its own sales figures Friday.