June was a strong month in the United States for several Japanese and German automakers. But domestic manufacturers General Motors and Ford Motor Company saw what has become an increasingly common theme: steeply declining sales in the United States.
GM took the biggest hit, with sales dropping 21.3 percent versus 2006. Specific details on the General’s June sales aren’t currently available.
The biggest gainer, percentage-wise, was Mitsubishi , whose sales were up 30.1 percent over the previous year thanks mostly to a heavily revised Lancer sedan. Automakers who have released June ’07 sales figures are as follows:
• Mitsubishi: Up 30.1 percent.
• Nissan : Up 22.7 percent.
• Jeep : Up 19 percent; Strong sales of the Wrangler.
• Volkswagen : Up 15 percent; the Eos posted its second-best month ever.
• Porsche : Up 13 percent; Cayenne sales were up 57 percent over June ’06.
• Honda / Acura : Up 11.5 percent combined.
• Infiniti : Up 9.3 percent.
• Mazda : Up 8.6 percent.
• Suzuki : Up 8.5 percent.
• Toyota / Lexus : Up 6.1 percent combined.
• BMW : Up 6 percent.
• Hyundai / Kia : Up 5.1 percent.
The biggest decline reported in detail so far is Ford Motor Company, whose overall sales in the U.S. were down 8.1 percent. Ford blames most of the decline to significantly decreased rental fleet sales. The FoMoCo’s umbrella looked like this in June:
• Ford: Down 9.7 percent.
• Mercury: Down 6.1 percent.
• Lincoln : Up 30 percent.
• Jaguar : Down 34.7 percent.
• Volvo : Down 11.9 percent.
• Land Rover : Up 8.1 percent.
Also posting negative sales compared to ’06 were:
• Subaru : Down 7.4 percent.
• Mercedes-Benz : Down 6 percent.
• Audi : Down 3.1 percent despite strong sales of the new TT.
• Chrysler Group: Down 1 percent as a whole.
