The Auto Writer

As expected, the news reports covering automotive sales in the US for June 2008 was gloomy, but with a few surprises.

Perhaps the most surprising bit of information learned thus far is that Toyota dropped a whopping 21%, certainly not as bad as Ford’s 28% shrinkage nor Chrysler’s as yet unreported — but expected — 30% drop for the month, but a surprise nevertheless. Given that the Corolla is selling so well, a drop of this magnitude is stunning. Then again, motorists are fleeing trucks like the Tundra and SUVs like the Sequoia en masse.

General Motors actually beat industry expectations when the company’s sales “only” dropped by 19% for the month. You know that we’re in difficult times when this sort of information is considered to be good news — GM’s stock shares rose by 5% on the basis of that report.

Honda and Volkswagen actually managed to post small gains, thanks to their fleets which are heavily geared toward compact vehicles. Most of the other manufacturers cannot retool their factory lines fast enough to keep up with shifting consumer demands, then again the demand for new vehicles is down to about 12.5 million units annually, well off of its peak pace of 17.5 million.

Expect whatever sales percentages you hear being spouted over the coming days to be adjusted downward. That’s because the number of June selling days were actually fewer in 2008 v. 2007. Thus, Ford will probably change their monthly loss to 19% to account for the difference.