Asian Automakers See Sales Drops, Profits Squeezed

[zete]

Originally Posted by ronald mcretard

until GM can pull itself out of the crapper, I'm going to stop worrying about Toyota.

The malaise that we're seeing affect Toyota makes it harder for GM to get new customers. Folks are willing to take a chance on a new ride from a new provider during good times, but during bad times folks will stick with what they know. That means pulling sales from Toyota will become harder, not easier, as the economy falters. That's why news concerning Toyota is of interest generally, much as news about GM should be of general interest to Toyota fans.

At the moment both GM and Toyota are fighting for each customer. With drops like that it doesn't matter who your are but rather how much you appeal to the customer base. Honda has shown resilience, Toyota not so much.

[mbukukanyau]

The quality dent in its spin armour is beggining to have its toll on Toyota.
Camry sales are down 6% and Corolla sales are not significantly up. Compare that with Malibu.

[Kennyboy]

Last year, GM was having a special GM employee discount for it's employees and their relatives. Now with that program ending, sales will definitely fall.

[AMERICA 123]

The Yaris, Corolla, Matrix, and all of Scion's numbers make no sense whatsoever - collectively or apart.

[Ambalanche]

I can see why the Highlander only sold 6763 vehicles last month, not sure if that's up or down but that thing has no cohesive design. It's not ugly necessarily, just no design. The Sequoia on the other hand is a very nice vehicle. I just rode in one because my friend who owns an '07 Avalanche that it's side curtain airbags deployed unexplainably is looking at one. The inside of that and the ride/power blows the Tahoe away, so I can see why it's up.

[HoosierRon]

Based on year to day sales...

Scion is selling less than 140,000 cars per year (less than Saturn).

Lexus is selling less than 275,000 per year (less than Pontiac).

For the year, Toyota is 400,000 behind GM in total U.S. sales.

I wonder if toyotanation has perpetual discussions about Toyota having too many divisions.

[AMERICA 123]

LATE EDIT/ADD: This article contains an error concerning the industry wide performance for July 2008.

Minus 13.2% is the industry wide average for the month on a non adjusted basis.

As an FYI, the adjusted number is minus 19.87%

**********************

Some industry data.

NOTE: Toyota performed < just above > the industry averages ie - 18.7% vs. - 19.87% ( adjusted) and - 11.9% vs. - 13.2% non adjusted.

http://www.reuters.com/article/marke...0080801?rpc=44 [quote]

FACTBOX-Key facts about U.S. July auto sales
Fri Aug 1, 2008 5:47pm EDT

Aug. 1, (Reuters) - U.S. auto sales fell 13.2 percent in
July from a year earlier on an adjusted basis, according to
data from auto manufacturers on Friday.


The following are
highlights from the largest carmakers in the U.S. market.

Overall industry

* Total light vehicle sales 1.14 million units.

* Seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate 12.55 mln vs
15.2 mln a year earlier

**********

General Motors Corp

* Light vehicle sales down adjusted 32.4 percent (235,184
units), unadjusted sales down 26.7 percent

* Year-to-date sales down 18 percent

* Vehicle inventories at month-end: 747,000, down about
201,000 from a year earlier

* Cars/trucks: Car sales down adjusted 18.9 percent/light;
truck sales down 39.7 percent

* Market share: 20.5 percent

* Key vehicles:

Chevrolet Impala down adjusted 41.9
percent,

Chevrolet Malibu up 64.8 percent,

Chevrolet Silverado down 35.2 percent,

Chevrolet Tahoe down 40.1 percent,

GMC Sierra down 32.6 percent.

* Incentives: average $4,214 per vehicle, up from $3,299 a
year earlier.

******************

Toyota Motor Corp

* Vehicle sales down adjusted 18.7 percent (197,424 units),

unadjusted sales down 11.9 percent

* Year-to-date sales down 7.6 percent

* Market share: 17.4 percent

* Cars/trucks:
Car sales down adjusted 8.3 percent,
trucks down 32.7 percent

* Key vehicles:
Tundra down 46.5 percent,
Camry down 6.3 percent,
Prius down 15 percent,
Corolla (/ Matrix ) up 7 percent

* Incentives: averaged $1,183 per vehicle, up from $1,153 a
year earlier.

[Ming]

Mitsubishi Motors Reports July Sales
Friday, August 01, 2008; Posted: 02:46 PM

Consistent with the industry trend for the month, total sales of all Mitsubishi vehicles were off 6.8 percent compared to July 2007, but were up 28.7 percent compared to last month (June 2008).

-- Galant sales were 2,286, up 30.6 percent compared to July 2007. Calendar year-to-date Galant sales are 3.4 percent ahead of January-July 2007. -- Last month was the best July for Galant sales in three years. -- Eclipse coupe sales were 1,910, up 35.6 percent compared to July 2007. -- Endeavor mid-size SUV sales were 764, up 22.6 percent compared to July 2007. -- Lancer Evolution sales were 357, up 141.2 percent compared to July 2007, and up 7.9 percent calendar-year-to-date. -- Total Mitsubishi car sales for July were 7,527, up 8.6 percent.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/...0News/1799677/

[Ming]

Hyundai U.S. July sales drop 6.5%

By Wallace Witkowski
Last update: 2:33 p.m. EDT Aug. 1, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Hyundai Motor America, a unit of Hyundai Motor Co. , said Friday that July U.S. sales fell 6.5% to 40,703 vehicles from a year ago. U.S. Sonata sales took a 22.9% hit in July with 11,409 units sold, with Elantra sales rising 31% to 10,454 units from last year.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor...&dist=hplatest

[tgagneguam]

Originally Posted by AMERICA 123

Well, look at that - and look how bad the analysts missed it - again.

YEP. No + 4.5% - or - 3.3% - or even a - 7.3%.

NOPE. It's a -18.7% - on a dsr adjusted basis.

http://pressroom.toyota.com/Releases...T2008080117514

How much did Toyota make in the US last quarter? And how much did GM make in the last quarter? There are two very different tales in which these two companies are managing the economic downturn. Pointing to sales declines in a tough market is one thing, but when some automakers are still able to make admittedly smaller profits in those tough times, it suggests that some automakers are better prepared. It suggests that there's a difference in strategies.

It's not bias to say that, it's not being anti-GM or pro-Toyota; it's merely a reasonable comparison. I think people are tired of GM persistently pissing away share and cash simultaneously. Despite what people might want to believe, it's not a winning strategy, it's not a sign of success. I think a move toward profitability would mitigate the bad news of sales declines. The problem is, we aren't seeing that. To the contrary, we are seeing the accentuation of a failed business model. That's the point with which I am most frustrated with GM. And it's why saying "but Toyota's down, too" doesn't really hold water for a lot of people, either.

[tgagneguam]

Originally Posted by mbukukanyau

The quality dent in its spin armour is beggining to have its toll on Toyota.
Camry sales are down 6% and Corolla sales are not significantly up. Compare that with Malibu.

OK, so what should I glean from these numbers? I still don't see this as a clear positive for GM/clear negative for Toyota. As much as you could say that the Malibu is moving in the right direction, and clearly it is, others might point to the still gaping chasm between Toyota's models and Chevrolet's Malibu in overall sales. I know Chevrolet can do better than it's doing.

July 2008:

Camry: 42,131 (-6.3)
Corolla: 34,438 (7.0)

Malibu: 16,637 (78.6)
--------------
YTD 2008:

Camry: 282,012 (-0.6)
Corolla: 228,926 (-1.9)

Malibu: 105,212 (37.0)

[tgagneguam]

Originally Posted by wescoent

It's confusing sometimes. Personally, I like all the data from years back in front of me in a nice neat little spreadsheet and associated graph, so you can do all KINDS of comparisons.

You're an equanimous soul; you model good GMI posting behavior.

[vcs2600]

Originally Posted by mbukukanyau

The quality dent in its spin armour is beggining to have its toll on Toyota.
Camry sales are down 6% and Corolla sales are not significantly up. Compare that with Malibu.

The Malibu figures are impressive, but Impala is way down. Which indicates Chevy is just moving sales from Impala to Malibu.

Overall Chevy mid-sized car (Impala+Malibu) sales are down 7% YTD, about the same as Camry.

[Drive571]

"Profits squeezed."

Regardless of one's personal allegiances, those two words should close any debate about who's worse off this quarter.

[AkSean]

Originally Posted by mbukukanyau

The quality dent in its spin armour is beggining to have its toll on Toyota.
Camry sales are down 6% and Corolla sales are not significantly up. Compare that with Malibu.

Perhaps you failed to notice that sales are trending down every month, not up. GM spent over $100 million on sales promotion on this new Malibu, a figure higher than for the Accord, Camry and Altima combined.