The U.S. new car market was down 37 percent in January, but several automakers are optimistic that sales have finally hit rock bottom. In fact, a few even think the market has stabilized, with sales increases just a few months away.
New car sales totaled just 656,976 units in January, translating to a seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) of 9.57 million vehicles. That’s well below the traditional 14 million to 17 million SAAR automakers have become accustom to, but there could be signs that the auto market is bottoming out.
During the month of January sales declined 48.9 percent for General Motors, 54.8 percent for Chrysler and 40.3 percent for Ford, but those hefty losses also include fleet sales. Both GM and Chrysler cut their fleet sales by 80 percent, with Ford reducing fleet sales by 65 percent. Those fleet sale cuts were factored in to the automaker’s overall January sales, resulting in the massive losses.
“The retail market was pretty steady over the last three months of 2008 and it appeared to remain so in January,” George Pipas, Ford’s sales analyst, told the Detroit Free Press. “Lower fleet sales account for almost all of the decline from December to January.” Ford’s share of the retail market was actually up to 12.7 percent in January, a 0.3 percent increase over January 2008.
Industry experts expect fleet sales to total 3.55 million units in 2009, down 1.3 million vehicle from a year earlier.
It remains to be seen if January was truly the bottom for auto sales, but there appears to be at least a little movement in the upward direction. GM’s GMAC financial arm financed 5,000 vehicles in January, up from zero in December. Automakers are also hopeful that the government’s bailout of the financial sector will finally free up some credit, although many buyers are still finding it hard to secure a lender.
02/05, 1:29 PM
posted by:
Borat
From point of view of economy, we are probably facing harsher times in the future. As an optimist, I’d say the bottom is ahead of us.
As far as domestic auto industry, we are in bottomless pit called government subsistence and it took how many years to rid of Federal welfare?
02/05, 1:36 PM
posted by:
Mutant@DCX
Agreed Borat. Tip of the iceberg.
02/05, 1:40 PM
posted by:
ricky_b
Hate to agree (because it’s a scary thought) but I don’t think the US auto market or economy in general is going to stabilize until much later in 2009 or even into 2010. Too much damage to over come. Sadly, there’s a lot of big auto changes coming in 2010 MY but it’s just not enough right now.
02/05, 1:41 PM
posted by:
Bubs Solo
To quote the great Jim Lahey Sunnyvale Trailer Court Supervisor “We’re in the middle of a $hit storm buddy”
02/05, 2:11 PM
posted by:
Z06ified
With tens of thousands of layoffs announced almost daily now, I think this is wishful thinking. Without job and income growth, it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.
02/05, 2:35 PM
posted by:
yarddog82abn
LOL… We had the same topic yesterday in our sales meeting…
The auto groups numbers show that sells go up year after year after the last week of Feb. We are expecting it go up, month after month until October. Due to the holidays.
The truth is that unless economy starts to stabilized, and we “stop” hearing that fortune 500 company’s are having massive layoff’s… Consumer confidence will not be strong enough to get the ball rolling in the right direction. How can you fill confident of a car purchase when you see your co workers getting Pink-Slips? So unless we see that 1st, it’s still ham & chess sandwiches with Coup-O-Noodles and a Coke… That’s my lunch for today, but to tomorrow is BBQ Rib-Fridays…
02/05, 2:42 PM
posted by:
anti-believer
if there isn’t any credit available then no we are not at the bottom yet.
02/05, 2:46 PM
posted by:
Need more oil for GM is an idiot
Sales declined 48.9 percent for General Motors…
hahahaha
Dont buy Gm let em die!
02/05, 2:51 PM
posted by:
TomF
These guys HAVE to say we’ve touched bottom and on the way back up… it’s the only way to get people shopping… if people think things are still going to get worse, they’ll wait until they think THEY see the bottom.
Having said that, we have not touched bottom yet by any means. Over the next two years, millions of ARM mortgages will reset or come due and this will suck all the leftover / disposable / new-car money out of the economy. We are completely doomed through 2012. Learn to love your ‘77 Pinto.
02/05, 2:54 PM
posted by:
Borat
Economy is a funny science. Few year ago (2 maybe 3) I recall reading major economists complaining that savings rate in US crappy compare to everyone’s else. So we were spending ahead of drunken sailors and fueling the world economy: buying Chinese clothes and shoes, huge houses made of Asian plastic and some Canadian veneer, filling houses with appliances from China and parking all kinds of expensive machinery in 3 cars garages. Today we are spending less and saving more and having recession because of it.
02/05, 2:58 PM
posted by:
CADDY-V
need more oil for GM is an idiot-
There sales were down 48.9 percent because they cut there fleet sales by 80 percent and that is counted in the figure.
I don’t know is you read the whole article?
02/05, 3:17 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Sorry, I’m too deeply engrossed in the last season of Battlestar Galactica. Are we in the midst of some kind of crisis?
02/05, 4:14 PM
posted by:
jonmiles
^^LOL.
I actually think overall the car market has bottomed out- keep in mind that the USED car market is influenced by only demand, and I think the deals available right now are so good that it makes no sense to purchase NEW cars.
But yeah, I do think that we haven’t seen the bottom of the new car sales.
02/05, 4:25 PM
posted by:
gugy
I agreed,
I think the worst is yet to come.
Maybe by 2010 things will start to improve. Until then at least one American automaker will file for bankruptcy. That’s a guarantee, unless the government will keep bailing them out and never get the money back in return.
Sucks!
02/05, 4:53 PM
posted by:
Need more oil for GM is an idiot
Yeah I did read it. I took only that part to stir up the original need more oil to come back with his usual banter.
02/05, 4:58 PM
posted by:
Get Real
These are the same moron finance forcast “experts” who got us into this mess.
Believe them again and you are a fool.
02/05, 5:32 PM
posted by:
hummah
Ford FTW. Chrysler’s goose is cooked. GM might pull through with a late ‘09 bankruptcy. That’s what my crystal ball tells me at least. Trust me the US car market has far from bottomed out.
02/05, 7:45 PM
posted by:
NipponRules
What do you base your prediction on hummah?
02/05, 9:17 PM
posted by:
nestle_s
need more oil for GM is an idiot…wow it is nice to see that you arent bantering as much. as for the foreseeable future of the auto industry only time will tell. but the way that ford has downsized and the same for the other two i see the future bright for the american auto industry. if the auto industry fails it will cause a chain affect on each industry.
02/05, 10:22 PM
posted by:
Need Mo Betta oil for GM
GM WILL CRUSH ALL.
02/06, 10:36 AM
posted by:
Need more oil for GM
Everyone else is going to face a hard 2009 and probably 2010. Gm will however come out on top, increasing market share to 30% in 2009 and hopefully 35% in 2010. Americans would rather support Gm than anyone else which will help the situation. A healthy GM means a healthy America. If GM fails, we ALL fail. It is our duty to buy from them.
Buy American. Buy GM. It is your duty
02/06, 11:32 AM
posted by:
The Stig
The bottom will be reached when Chrysler finally dies and the TARP money gets into the hands of lenders willing to …. lend it.
02/06, 12:18 PM
posted by:
Get Real
Only 1931 was bad year, 1932 will be a good year….just you wait and see.
The bailout packages from Washington will fix it all and people will be happily spending money again.
02/06, 1:19 PM
posted by:
Need more oil for GM
What is good for GM is good for America.
Do the right thing. Buy GM.
An American Revolution
02/10, 3:54 AM
posted by:
fan
what is good for america would be to get rid of stupid people who loan out their trailer to buy a lot of junk nobody ever would need; to get the taxes down and the money back into the purses of the people and the companies who EARNED it. and those definitely are not the automakers, as they earned nil – when was the last time any of the big three claimed a solid profit? stop bailing them out, and if you want to buy a car, buy one thats maker will be around in lets say 3 years… not seeing to many of them among the big 3…
THATS the american revolution, and its about time…