GM says Hurricane Irene may have hurt sales by just 1,000 units, though it’s offering a vehicle replacement plan for those of you who have lost your car or truck to floods or other damage. It will offer $500 toward the purchase or lease of a new GM model, and through its Allied Financial, a 90-day payment deferral.
Chrysler led healthy domestic automaker increases, up 31 percent over its dismal August ’10 numbers, enough to edge out Toyota by just 636 cars and trucks and make the Detroit Three the Big Three for the third consecutive month. That’s not likely to carry into September. Toyota says full production will be back up this month, half a year after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and it’s pulling forward the on-sale date of its new, ’12 Camry by two weeks, into late September. The Camry hybrid’s November introduction has not changed.
Honda was again hardest hit of the Japanese brands, with sales off 27.2 percent. Kia sales, not coincidentally, was up 26.8 percent. Smaller, struggling Japanese brands Mitsubishi and Suzuki also posted gains. Mitsu was up 86 percent over August ’10, though the Mazda3 still managed to outsell its entire lineup.
Ford’s bestseller was, as usual, the F-Series, followed by the Escape, which is about to be replaced. Is that due to fleet sales, or is there some real nostalgia for the Escape?
The Chevy Cruze outsold the Ford Focus, and all other compacts. Ford says its Focus is production-constrained, but Chevy says the same thing about the Cruze. Last month’s Cruze numbers were higher than August ‘10’s Toyota Corolla numbers, and just 906 below August ‘10’s Honda Civic number. The Japanese parts shortage has hit Civic very hard since the all-new ’12 model’s launch.
Toyota and Ford will increase fourth-quarter production beyond previous plans because they anticipate a strong early ’12 model year. GM is optimistic, too, saying that despite the stalled economic recovery, many households have saved money, can get good finance deals and have pent-up demand for new cars and trucks.
The domestics, in fact, are optimistic about their fourth-quarter sales because they believe all automakers will benefit from heightened interest when the Japanese brands get their inventories back up to snuff.
Perhaps they’re right. New models like the Chevy Cruze and even the Chrysler 200, introduced this year seem to be bringing consumers back into the showrooms, even as aging models like the Buick Enclave and Ford Escape remain strong. Even with weak housing sales and high unemployment, many of the employed, at least, have held onto vehicles for up to three extra years, while others had to turn in lease vehicles and buy used.
Before we go to the numbers, allow me to mention that I’m now Tweeting on monthly sales and other car stuff @MT_Lassa …
1. General Motors: 218,479, up 18.0 percent.
*First, the muscle/ponycar race. Chevy Camaro, 6,823, up 7.9 percent, Ford Mustang, 5,718, up 2.7 percent, Dodge Challenger, 3,159, off 4 percent.
*Chevy Cruze totaled 21,897, its fifth month above 20k.
*Chevy sold 302 Volts in August, and 203 Caprice cop cars. Sonic sales began, with 280 sold.
*Equinox was up 57.6 percent, to 16,606.
*Malibu was off 1.9 percent, to 17,840, but outsold the fleet-intense Impala, which was off 23.1 percent, to 13,329.
*Silverado was up 8.1 percent, to 36,832. Sierra was up up 13.8 percent, to 13,244 . Total big truck sales, 50,076.
*GM’s Lambda trio did well, with Chevy Traverse up 43.7 percent, to 11,281, GMC Acadia up 53.7 percent, to 6,491, and Buick Enclave up 17.2 percent, to 5,387.
*Total Buick sales rose 12.1 percent, to 16,021.
*Cadillac CTS had a good month, up 39.2 percent, to 5,783. SRX was up 7 percent, to 4,627 and total Caddy was up 4.1 percent, to 13,208.
2. Ford Motor Company: 175,220, up 11.2 percent.
*F-Series, at 48,795, is up 2.4 percent, but falls below Silverado/Sierra’s total.
*Escape was up 5.2 percent, to 20,607.
*Fusion is Ford’s bestselling car, up 4.9 percent, to 17,925.
*Ford cites short supply as Focus sales fall 8.9 percent, to 14,093.
*Fiesta was up 76 percent over a launch month last year, at 5,833. Hyundai Accent, which beat Fiesta last month, was 544 units short of that this month.
*Explorer was up 300.2 percent, to 9,901, while Flex was up 23.5 percent, to 2,823.
*Lincoln was up 24.5 percent, to 8,006, but the difference wasn’t enough to make up for 0 Mercurys sold, versus 7,040 the previous August.
*Body-on-frame sedans are partying like it’s 1999. Crown Victoria was up 140.8 percent, to 4,879, and Ford said much of that went to government fleet. Police departments want to get the newest ones possible. Lincoln Town Car was up 45 percent, to 1,196.
3. Chrysler LLC: 130,119, up 31 percent.
*Jeep Wrangler was again the second-bestseller, up 69 percent, to 12,949. It edged out Dodge Grand Caravan, up 32 percent, to 12,172.
*Ram pickup was up 12 percent, to 21,243.
*Grand Cherokee was up 77 percent, to 11,320.
*Surprise! The power of advertising (and maybe fleet sales). Chrysler sold 10,861 200s, compared with 4,498 Sebrings last year. Dodge Avenger was up 38 percent, to 6,319.
*Dodge Charger was off 37 percent, to 4,174.
*Chrysler 300 was 2,835, off 5 percent.
*Dodge sold 5,222 of its new Durangos, and its facelifted Journey was up 34 percent to 5,019.
*Fiat sold 3,106 of its 500s, a total of 11,088 year-to-date.
4. Toyota Motor Sales: 129,483, off 16.1 percent.
*Camry is back on top, at 30,185, off 5.7 percent.
*Prius was off 22.7 percent, though, to 9,491.
*Corolla fell 22.1 percent, to 16,420.
*Tundra was off 9.9 percent, to 6,752.
*RAV4 slid 57.5 percent, to 6,502.
*Lexus division was off 10.6 percent, to 18,103.
*Lexus RX fell 26.5 percent, to 6,504.
*The CT hybrid, though, is selling at more than twice Lexus’ expectations. The division sold 2,087 last month.
5. Nissan North America: 91,541, up 19.2 percent.
*Altima is the company’s bestseller again, at 23,016, up 24.5 percent.
*Sentra was off 1.8 percent, to 8,061.
*Versa climbed 14.9 percent, to 8,566.
*Nissan sold 1,362 Leafs, more than four times Chevy Volt sales.
*It sold 3,464 Jukes last month.
*Titan was up 10 percent, to 2,355 and Frontier was up 29.6 percent, to 4,843.
*Infiniti division was off 4.3 percent, to 9,024.
*G sedan was up 8.7 percent, to 4,267. G coupe was off 14.6 percent, to 1,281.
6. American Honda: 82,321, off 27.2 percent.
*Accord was off 21.2 percent, to 18,439.
*Civic fell 49 percent, to 12,083.
*CR-Z was up 3.2 percent, to 745.
*CR-V was off 18.1 percent, to 16,572, though Pilot was up 11.4 percent, to 9,825.
*Ridgeline free-fell 86 percent, to 214.
*Acura division was off 24.5 percent, to 9,054.
*MDX was bestseller, at 3,126, off 31.5 percent.
*TL was off 19.8 percent, to 2,404.
*TSX was off 10 percent, to 2,263, and 265 of them were wagons.
*Acura sold 81 ZDXes, off 81.8 percent.
7. Hyundai: 58,505, up 9 percent.
*Combined with Kia’s sales, total is 99,693, good for fifth place.
*Sonata leads, though off 3.3 percent, to 20,682.
*Elantra was also off, 0.8 percent, to 15,054.
*Santa Fe jumped 55.2 percent, to 8,828.
*Accent was up 37.5 percent, to 5,289.
*Genesis was up 12.6 percent, to 3,253.
8. Kia: 41,188, up 26.9 percent.
*Sorento is the bestseller, becoming a threat to the supply constrained Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. It was up 50 percent, to 13,573.
*Soul outsold Forte and Optima, at 6,885, off 1.9 percent.
*Forte was up 6.7 percent, to 6,677.
*Optima was up from 1,714 for the old model to 6,157 for the new model last month.
9. Volkswagen: 25,232, up 10.4 percent.
*Jetta is hot, up 35.9 percent, to 14,500, with 1,897 of those wagons.
*Golf was up 36.2 percent, to 3,236.
*Tiguan was up 25.5 percent, to 2,006.
*CC fell 8.9 percent, to 2,371.
10. BMW Group: 23,924, off 0.2 percent.
*BMW brand was up 6.5 percent, to 20,815.
*Mini was off 29.7 percent, to 3,109. BMW says the brand was short on inventory due to a model-year change.
11. Mazda: 22,632, up 14.7 percent.
*Mazda3 was up 4 percent, to 9,424.
*2 had its best month ever, at 1,387, up 195.7 percent.
*CX-7 was up 58.7 percent, to 4,188.
*Miata was up 9.7 percent, to 600.
12. Subaru: 20,837, off 6.3 percent.
*Outback sales fell 6 percent, to 7,572. Dealer inventory of all but the U.S.-built Legacy is very low.
*Forester fell 11.1 percent, to 6,429.
*Legacy and Tribeca posted Subie’s only gains. Legacy was up 10.3 percent, to 3,271. Tribeca was up 10.2 percent, to 205.
13. Daimler-Benz: 20,728, up 5.4 percent.
*Bestseller E-Class fell 4.3 percent, to 5,628.
*M-Class was off 11.4 percent, to 2,191.
*GLK was up 35.6 percent, to 1,933.
*Mercedes delivered 7 hydrogen-powered B-Classes here last month, a total of 12 year-to-date.
*smart sold 405 units, Sprinter sold 1,846, up 117.7 percent.
14. Audi: 10,201, up 11.1 percent.
*The new A6 accounted for 989 sales, up 36.4 percent.
*A7 totaled 703.
*A4 was Audi’s bestseller again, off 8.3 percent, to 2,623.
15. Mitsubishi: 7,985, up 86 percent.
*Lancer totaled 2,121, including 215 Evos and 142 Sportbacks.
*Galant rose 42.4 percent, to 1,078.
*Outlander Sport accounted for 1,564 units.
16. Volvo: 5,215, up 17.4 percent.
*Top-seller is the S60, at 1,544 units.
17. Jaguar/Land Rover: 3,617, off 9 percent.
*Land Rover was up 10 percent, to 2,807.
*Jaguar was off 43 percent, to 810, as the brand went through its model year changeover.
18. American Suzuki: 2,409, up 32 percent.
*Grand Vitara was the biggest gainer, up 39 percent, to 470.
*SX4 was up 38 percent, to 1,181.
*Kizashi was up 19 percent, to 570.
19. Porsche: 2,184, up 7 percent.
*Cayenne leads again, up 13.8 percent, to 882.
*Panamera fell 15.6 percent, to 529.
*911 rose 25.3 percent, to 470.
*Boxter and Cayman rounded Porsche out, up 18.8 percent, to 303.
20. Saab: 363, up 25.2 percent.
*I found this at the website, saabsunited.com
*9-3 sales fell by 83 units, but 9-5 was up 91 units and 65 units of the 9-4x were sold.
Compacts, August ‘11:
1.) Chevy Cruze 21,897
2.) Toyota Corolla 16,402
3.) Hyundai Elantra 15,054
4.) VW Jetta 14,500
5.) Ford Focus 14,093
Midsize cars, August ‘11:
1.) Toyota Camry 30,185
2.) Nissan Altima 23,016
3.) Hyundai Sonata 20,682
4.) Honda Accord 18,439
5.) Ford Fusion 17,925
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