Yesterday we told you how the cash for clunkers scheme has enjoyed early success in the USA. Today we take a closer look at how each manufacturer has faired as US auto sales slowed their decline throughout the month of July.
In all, passenger car sales dropped 10.6 per cent to 566,527 with hybrids having a particularly good month. Reported sales jumped 31.8 per cent year on year to 35,429 units – that represents a 3.55 per cent new vehicles sales market share for the month, the highest monthly share to date.
Let’s take a look at the results from each major manufacturer:
Chrysler: Total US sales for July stood at 88,900 units, a decrease of nine per cent year on year, although up 30 per cent compared to June.
Ford: The US manufacturer posted the first year-on-year sales gains of any major car manufacturer in the US market with total sales climbing two per cent to 158,838 units. The company had an exceptionally strong month with hybrid sales which leapt by 323 per cent year on year to 5,353 units.
Honda: The Japanese manufacturer posted total July vehicle sales of 114,690 – that’s a decline of 17.3 per cent compared to July 2008 although it was the company’s highest volume month so far this year. Sales of the Civic Hybrid plunged by 71.8 per cent to just 969 units while the Honda Insight Hybrid posted 2,295 units.
General Motors: A total of 189,443 vehicles were sold in July, that’s a 19.4 per cent decline year on year but the July results were the largest in 10 months. GM delivered a total of 1,487 hybrid vehicles in the month – an increase of 36.3 per cent year on year.
Nissan: Reported sales in July stood at 71,847 units, a decrease of 24.6 per cent year on year. The company sold 1,030 units of its Altima Hybrid, which represented a 44.1 per cent increase year on year.
Toyota: Reported July sales of 174,872 represented an 11.4 per cent decline year on year. However, sales were up 27.7 per cent compared to June and hybrid sales increased to 24,295 – an increase of 19.3 per cent year on year. The all-new redesigned Prius faired particularly well with best-ever July sales of 19,173 units, up 29.7 per cent compared to a year ago.
