June sales results are now flooding in and it’s become quite obvious just how bad the U.S. auto market is right now. Although the vast majority of automakers are reporting double-digit percentage declines, Chrysler has checked in with the biggest sales decline in June – a massive 36 percent (28 percent adjusted) drop off to just 117,457 units. Of note, there were three fewer sales days in June 2008 versus June 2007, so some sales have been adjusted to reflect change in Daily Sales Rate.
As you can imagine with a 36 percent sales decline, there weren’t many bright spots in the Chrysler portfolio. The Jeep Patriot managed a meager 6 percent sales increase while the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan posted impressive sales increases of 21 and 52 percent, respectively. Chrysler’s minivan success comes as a bit of a shock considering the Michigan-based automaker announced just yesterday that it would idling one of its minivan plants.
June was also a tough month for General Motors, but the U.S.’ largest automaker fared much better than Chrysler . GM’s overall sales were down 18.5 percent (8.3 percent adjusted), with all eight of its divisions posting sales declines.
HUMMER was GM’s biggest loser, with sales down nearly 60 percent. GM’s Saab and Buick divisions were not far behind, with drop offs of 57.1 and 41.7 percent, respectively.
GM’s most improved model was the Chevrolet Malibu — with sales up 73.4 percent – but the success of the Malibu is likely cannibalizing other GM sales. Just a few months ago, the Impala was Chevy’s best-selling model, but Impala sales dropped off a staggering 53.5 percent in June.
Nissan says its June sales fell 7.5 percent to just 75,847 units.
As expected, Honda posted another record month, selling 142,539 vehicles in June – an increase of 1.1 percent (13.8 percent adjusted). Despite the record month for the Japanese automaker, its Acura brand is still lagging in sales, with its June figures off the mark by 16.4 percent.
Hyundai quietly set a new company record by selling 50,033 vehicles in June, a 1.3 percent (14 percent adjusted) increase over June 2007.
As a whole, the industry was down 18.8 percent in June, with first half sales off by 10.9 percent.
