The Auto Writer

Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, Honda post huge monthly gains

2009 will go down as the worst year for US car sales in recent memory, with Chrysler failing to sell one million units for the first time since the early 1950s. Just over 10.4 million units were sold for the year, well off of early 2000s peak of 17 million passenger vehicles, but above forecasts made earlier in the year when the economy hit bottom.

A Flicker of Hope

Indeed, the last few months of the year has demonstrated that a recovery is taking shape, though it remains to be seen how much of a boost in sales will be realized for 2010. December sales were up by 15%, a tremendous boost in a normal year, but not much to consider when sales for December 2008 were so very awful. Still, mostly everyone benefited last month, if not seeing a sales increase they managed to stem their losses significantly with the exception of Suzuki.

For the year, GM remains firmly the top selling car manufacturer in the United States, but its lead over #2 Toyota and #3 Ford narrowed significantly. GM and Chrysler were shepherded through bankruptcy over the summer, with GM recovering faster, but with just half the brand in its portfolio than when the year began. Chevrolet will likely do much of the heavy lifting over the coming years, but will Pontiac and Saturn enthusiasts turn to it or Buick instead?

“Americans have given our cars, crossovers and trucks a strong vote of confidence, and we take that very seriously,” said Susan Docherty, GM vice president, U.S. Sales. “We’ve listened to those who’ve returned their vehicles to help us continue designing and building products our customers deserve.” Docherty was referring to a return policy put in place by the company this year where dissatisfied customers could give back their cars without further obligation.

Toyota Fends Off Problems

Toyota is managing to overcome its worst year ever. Not in terms of sales, rather in terms of profits and quality. Losing billions of dollars in the most recently ended fiscal year, Toyota is expecting another loss for the year ending March 31. Notably, Toyota also launched its largest recall ever for Toyota and Lexus vehicles, in a bid to fix a nasty “runaway Toyota” issue which has killed at least four people and tarnished Toyota’s once lofty image.

Of the Big 6 automakers (GM, Toyota, Ford, Honda, Chrysler, and Nissan) who each experienced a significant sales decline in 2009, Ford’s drop was the lowest at 15.3 percent. December sales were up sharply, a trend that began with this past summer’s cash for clunkers program, allowing Ford to pick up market share. Led by the all new Ford Fusion and several other new for 2010 models, Ford appears to be in a very good position to continue its success in 2010.

George Pipas, Ford Sales Analyst, said, “We’re not nearly finished, but it’s a very good testimonial, a proof point that the one Ford plan is working and we certainly look forward to 2010 with optimism, based upon the progress we made in 2009.”

Leaders and Bleeders

As expected, three automakers saw their sales increase for 2009: Subaru, Kia, and Hyundai. All three have line ups dominated by smaller, more affordable cars although Hyundai has seen some success with premium cars including its Genesis coupe and sedan.

Volkswagen, although reporting a drop in sales of 5.2 percent for the year, has been seeing a rebound for the past six months with Mark Barnes, Chief Operating Officer, Volkswagen of America, Inc. reporting, “2009 proved to be another extremely challenging year for the Automotive Industry. We are encouraged by the fact that we were able to continue to grow our market share throughout 2009 despite the extremely challenging market conditions.”

With Audi gaining on Mercedes and BMW and with a new US plant set to kick online in early 2011, Volkswagen appears poised to continue growing sales and increasing its market share.

But several manufacturers are in dire need of a major makeover if they are to remain relevant in the ultra competitive US market. Suzuki posted the worst year over year sales loss, registering a 54.4 percent plunge, followed by Mitsubishi at 44.5 percent. GM was down by 29.9 percent for the year, but Chrysler led all major producers with a 35.9 percent plunge for the year.

Source: Autodata Corp.