NOVEMBER SWING

For those Mercury salespeople in the USA who thought November was a great month.... you were right. Hummer salespeople who figured things weren't about to improve... you were right. November was about as bad as October.

check out the October Swing here

Ford dealers pushed the Fusion, and Mulally can thank them now. Fusion sales were 38.8% higher than November of 2006. Cadillac has a new CTS in showrooms and MotorTrend's Car of the Year sold at a 55.1% higher clip than it did last November. The new Accord also helped Honda, as the brand saw 10.4% higher sales with the aid of 28,161 Accord's (a 25.2% jump) going out the doors. The major numbers are ↓.

BIGGEST SELLERS

Toyota - 172,341
Chevrolet - 151,642
Ford - 147,310

GREATEST IMPROVEMENT NOV/07 vs. NOV/06

Mercury - 27.6%
Mitsubishi - 13.8%
Hyundai - 12%
Honda - 10.4%
Kia - 8.9%

WORST DOWNFALL NOV/07 vs. NOV/06

Hummer - 30.5%
Buick - 26.8%
Acura - 24.9%
Saab - 19.8%
Saturn - 17%

U.S. AUTO SALES FOR NOVEMBER 2008

Not as though you were expecting otherwise, the Numbers for November/2008 in the automotive sales segment of the economy are disastrous. Tata, whose hotel was just blown to bits by terrorists in Mumbai, continues to decline requests to release sales figures for Jaguar and Land Rover. Mini, the line in bold and itallics below, is configured that way for a significant reason. The BMW-owned British small car builder was the only brand to post sales that were better this November than in November of '07. The only others to come close to that in America were, surprisingly, Lincoln, and not-so-surprisingly, Subaru. Click here for last month's story and click here for the Canadian results.

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Toyota: -33.8% to 114,084

Ford: -30% to 103,055

Chevrolet: -36.9% to 95,756

Honda: -30.6% to 68,345

Dodge: -44.3% to 44,941

Nissan: -44.4% to 38,974

Jeep: -41.8% to 20,302

GMC: -41.5% to 20,214

Chrysler: -56% to 20,017

Hyundai: -39.7% to 19,221

Lexus: -34.7% to 16,223

BMW: -36% to 15,217

Kia: -37.2% to 15182

VW: -19.2% to 14,295

Mazda: -31.3% to 14,134

Mercedes-Benz: -38.2% to 14,102

Subaru: -7.8% to 13,706

Pontiac: -53.4% to 12,140

Cadillac: -48.3% to 8,815

Saturn: -46.2% to 8,130

Lincoln: -8.3% to 8,019

Acura: -38.9% to 7,888

Mercury: -41.4% to 7,744

Infiniti: -28% to 7,631

Buick: -43.3% to 7,516

Audi: -25.4% to 6,788

Mitsubishi: -35.4% to 5096

Mini: +43% to 4,545

Volvo: -46.5% to 4,404

Suzuki: -46% to 3,216

Hummer: -63.9% to 1,454

Porsche: -48.2% to 1,378

Saab: -57.5% to 852

OCTOBER SWING

Compare the sales of automakers and their brands in the USA for October 2007 versus October 2006, and these are the notable achievements and disappointments. The Good Car Guy tells you what the backmarkers need for change to occur.

THE GERMAN BRANDS CHANNEL REGGIE JACKSON

Porsche +16.9%
Audi +10.9%
BMW +8.3%
Mercedes-Benz +6.5%
Volkswagen +4.1%

KOREA WAS INCONSISTENT

Kia +20.5%
Hyundai -4.6% ( Next Tiburon needs to spice up the showroom... big time)

THE GENERAL FINDS SOME TROOPS FIGHTING; SOME AREN'T

Cadillac +19.9%
GMC +10.2%
Chevrolet +0.6%
Saturn -5.9% (Where are you Astra?)
Buick -12.% (More Enclave beauty for the rest of the lineup)
Pontiac -17.5% (G8... hello, I'm waiting)
Saab -19.9% (Changes necessary for a + sign? Funny)
Hummer -33.2% (See Saab)

SOME JAPANESE BIT PLAYERS TAKE BIG BITES

Mazda +13.3%
Nissan +9.8%
Suzuki +5.6%
Honda +3.4%
Infiniti +1.8%
Lexus +0.6%
Toyota +0.5%
Mitsubishi -3.9% (More than just a new Evo)
Subaru -6.5% (What? Another quick redo of a new Impreza?)
Acura -22.2% (Gotta say "Dunno" on this one... Maybe an Integra)

FORD WILL SPIN THIS FOR GOOD

Mercury +20.2%
Lincoln +13%
Land Rover +1.7%
Ford -16.4% (My list is too long for this post)
Volvo -11% (Heavy V70 marketing and a true sports sedan)

OTHER NEGATIVE FINISHERS

Chrysler -6.6% (Quality before warranty)
Dodge -9.6% (See above)
Jeep -24% (SEE ABOVE, eh?)
Mini -11% ($500 off and better supply)

AMERICAN AUTO SALES FOR OCTOBER 2008

Expecting a repeat performance of September in the United States' vehicle sales statistics, The Good Car Guy was shocked to find two outperformers. How dare Mini and Audi stray from the flock of upside-down trending? Therefore, unlike September when The Good Car Guy forsook the - symbol in favour of simply typing in the Numbers, this month requires a full +/- slate. Take note, Subaru hasn't yet posted but did complete its best ever October in Canada. (*Update - Subie just posted.)

Under Tata, Jaguar and Land Rover have forsaken public disclosure in America. Buick, Mercury, Pontiac, and Suzuki all show sales that are just above half what they were last October. Cadillac, Chrysler, GMC, Hummer, Porsche, Saturn, and Volvo posted less than half the sales of October/2007. Arranged by their total sales, here's the list of major automakers competing in the United States. (Find Canada's stats for 10/2008 here)

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Toyota: -21.3% to 135,818

Ford: -27.9% to 114,969

Chevrolet: -40.3% to 107,313

Honda: -25.7% to 75,756

Dodge: -27% to 53,267

Nissan: -33.4% to 49,833

Jeep: -32.9% to 21,360

GMC: -52.5% to 21,109

Hyundai: -31.1% to 20,820

BMW: -13.9% to 20,203

Chrysler: -50.8% to 19,903

Mazda: -25.9% to 16,442

Lexus: -35.2% to 16,283

Volkswagen: -7.9% to 15,889

Kia: -38.5% to 15,483

Mercedes-Benz: -34.3% to 14,996

Pontiac: -48.2% to 13,054

Subaru: -14% to 12,917

Acura: -21.6% to 10,108

Cadillac: -55.1% to 9,541

Saturn: -54.6% to 8,583

Buick: -46.3% to 7,642

Mitsubishi: 19.3% to 7,486

Audi: +0.3% to 7,443

Lincoln: -27.7% to 7,399

Infiniti: -28.5% to 7,112

Mercury: -47.4% to 6,753

Mini: +56.4% to 5,272

Volvo: -52.1% to 3,717

Suzuki: -46.7% to 3,482

Saab: 13.2% to 1,975

Porsche: -50.1% to 1,427

Hummer: -64.6% to 1,368

AMERICAN AUTO SALES FOR SEPTEMBER 2008

If the measurement of a successful automaker's year-over-year sales stats can't start with a plus sign, you know it's been a bad month. Early this year, the brother and father-in-law of The Good Car Guy spent extensive amounts of time in Labrador, the most northern part of Newfoundland & Labrador, in Canada's north. It was winter; it was cold; it was stormy. 

Most curiously of all, the cold was so easily assumed that the obligatory 'minus' statement that comes before most Canadians state the temperature in Celsius is, actually, not obligatory at all. One can rest assured that the temperature will not rise above 0 degrees, the freezing mark, so Labradorians reduce unnecessary conversations by simply stating, "Nine", or "Fourteen". Everybody knows they mean "below zero". 

Likewise, in automotive sales for September 2008. Not a single manufacturer was able to produce better sales this September than they did in September of 2007. Therefore, GoodCarBadCar.net will be skipping the negative sign and simply stating the percentage drop. You can all assume the story's bad - your assumptions will be correct.

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Chevrolet: 11.2% to 172,803

Toyota: 31.8% to 128,215

Ford: 33.8% to 102,685

Honda: 23.2% to 86,629

Dodge: 25.2% to 62,572

Nissan: 38.4% to 51,786

GMC: 12.8% to 39,029

Hyundai: 25.4% to 24,765

Chrysler: 25.2% to 23,346

Pontiac: 26.7% to 23,324

Jeep: 42.8% to 21,431

Mercedes-Benz: 16.4% to 18,779

Saturn: 10.8% to 18,528

Kia: 27.8% to 17,382

Volkswagen: 9.4% to 17,109

Mazda: 35.6% to 16,169

Lexus: 36.1% to 16,045

BMW: 29.5% to 14,744

Subaru: 11.9% to 14,491

Buick: 20.5% to 14,121

Cadillac: 39.1% to 12,432

Acura: 30.4% to 9,997

Infiniti: 24.1% to 7,779

Audi: 5.4% to 7,584

Lincoln: 22.5% to 7,571

Mitsubishi: 39% to 7,378

Mercury: 43.2% to 6,478

Suzuki: 44% to 4,081

Volvo: 51.8% to 4,054

Mini: 6.7% to 3,762

Hummer: 54.8% to 2,298

Saab: 27.2% to 1,765

Porsche: 44.8% to 1,458

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Note the absence of Jaguar and Land Rover. New owners Tata have decided not to share their American sales figures, although you will be able to see the stats for Canada's auto sales coming up.

AMERICA'S JULY AUTO SALES STATS

July was longer this year. Uh... lemme explain. In 2007, automakers had just 24 days to sell cars in July while this year, July had 26 selling days. Therefore it's theoretically possible that a manufacturer with a - symbol beside its numerical percentage actually sold more cars this July. In fact, with the BMW Group; Kia; Subaru; Suzuki; and Volkswagen all find themselves within that theory. July was successful - but not as successful as one might think at first glance. By brands, and ignoring unrevealed sales from Land Rover and Jaguar, here are America's auto sales statistics from July 2008 with a twist. There ain't no alphabetical order below. You can read'em first to worst in total sales.

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Toyota: -18% to 175,242

Ford: -20.6% to 138,175

Chevrolet: -30.5% to 137,823

Honda: -8.2% to 125,916

Nissan: +1.7% to 86,070

Dodge: -23.5% to 54,546

Hyundai: -13.6% to 40,703

Kia: -3% to 28,021

GMC: -42.5% to 27,447

Pontiac: -22% to 25,373

BMW: -9.1% to 23,914

Jeep: -44% to 22,705

Mazda: -20% to 22,418

Lexus: -25% to 22,182

Chrysler: -44.4% to 20,858

Mercedes: +3% to 20,733

Volkswagen: -4% to 20,422

Saturn: -20.2% to 17,602

Subaru: -2.7% to 16,271

Cadillac: -31% to 13,022

Acura: -17% to 12,828

Buick: -44.5% to 10,013

Infiniti: -10.9% to 9,249

Mitsubishi: -14% to 9,644

Mercury: -20% to 9,412

Lincoln: 8.8% to 8,819

Suzuki: -5.8% to 8,103

Audi: -11.9% to 6,804

Volvo: -50.4% to 5,124

Mini: +14.9% to 5,063

Porsche: -10.6% to 3,128

Saab: -42.4% to 2,026

AMERICA'S JUNE AUTO SALES STATS GROUPED

While some automobile manufacturers are fearful; others are frothing at the mouth with anticipation. Now is exactly when you want to be known as a builder of small, fuel-efficient cars. In other words, Hummer wants to be Honda. Jeep would love to be Mini.

But they're not. Neither is Chevrolet, Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, Cadillac, Buick, or Pontiac known for their 4-cylinder urban runabouts. 

Although it helps to offer something small and economical (as Chevrolet does with the Aveo, Cobalt, and HHR), the pain you'll feel at the same time when your larger vehicles (Tahoe, Silverado, TrailBlazer, Suburban, Impala) struggle even though you're still building them strips away the joy you could assume would be present with 4-cylinder concentration.

Thus, automakers like Honda, which offers not a single V8 engine and only three models equipped with a V6 as standard equipment, are loving the general consumer's desire to save at the pump. In all honesty, Honda can see what happens with a lineup that's thicker with cylinders. Their luxury brand, Acura, builds one crossover/SUV that's exclusively equipped with a V6 and two sedans that feature a standard V6. Sales at Acura were 16.4% lower this June than last. Acura's newest, smaller 4-cylinder sedan posted its best June ever with year-to-date sales up 2.2% compared with the first six months of 2007.

You see the point we're trying to get at. Sell fuel-efficient cars? Sell much. Sell trucks and SUVs? Sell not so much. There's more to separating the automakers between the "have fuel-efficiency" and the "have not fuel efficiency". Check out the categories GoodCarBadCar.net has listed below and pay close attention to the + and - signs. If you see a "TG12" symbol beside a brand, follow the link to find that maker's cars in The Good 12. Onthe contrary, if you see a "TB8" symbol beside a brand, follow the link to find that maker's cars in The Bad 8.

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4-CYLINDER HEAVY: 7/7

Mini +40.5% TG12

Honda +17.9% TG12

Suzuki +6.6%

Hyundai +14% TG12

Kia +21% TB8

Mazda +3.8%

Volkswagen +12.8% TG12

MAINSTREAM: 1/12

Buick -34.4%

Chevrolet -3.5% TG12

Chrysler -36% TB8

Dodge -21.3%

Ford -19.8% TB8

Mercury -16.3%

Mitsubishi -35.2%

Nissan -8.3% TB8

Pontiac -5.1%

Saturn -1.9%

Subaru +18.4%

Toyota -10.3%

PREMIUM: 3/12

Acura -16.4%

Audi +18.5% TG12 

BMW -34.4% TG12

Cadillac -3.1%

Infiniti -0.9% TG12

Jaguar +8.5%

Lexus -21% TB8

Lincoln -12.5% TB8

Mercedes-Benz +12.4%

Porsche -8.7% TG12

Saab -51.7% TB8

Volvo -17.7% TG12

TRUCK/SUV-HEAVY: 0/4

GMC  -14.6%

Hummer -54.2%

Jeep -32.8%

Land Rover -40.5%

MAY AUTO SALES HIGHLIGHTS FROM AMERICA

A deeper look is yet to come, but the most startling automobile-related statistics out of the USA in May are ready for intake tonight. It wasn't long ago that we all realized the Ford F-series pickup was in in trouble - not just of losing sales; which we knew had already occurred and would continue to, but of losing its sales crown. 

For at least one month, the F-150 more than lost its sales crown - it fell straight off the podium. The Toyota Camry, then, took control? Uh.... not quite. Becoming especially Canadian-like in May, Americans bought more Honda Civics than any other vehicle in the fifth month of 2008. Toyota's Corolla also outperformed the larger (and therefore less fuel efficient; economy being the key to May's results) Camry and the Honda Accord, with just 473 fewer sales than the Civic. 

Added to those facts is this: two cars (Civic and Corolla) outsold the Ford F-150 by about 10,000 units. It'sa small surprise that the F-150 continued to tumble; a somewhat more substantial surprise that it was the Civic and Corolla - not the Accord and Camry - that took control with gasoline near an average of $4.00/gallon.

What's more, American brands as a whole struggled mightily. Compared with May of 2007, Chrysler LLC was down some 50,000 total sales. Buick; Cadillac; Chevrolet; GMC; Hummer; Pontiac; Saab; and Saturn - down. Ford and its two other American brands, as well as Volvo, posted declining sales.

The good news resides at Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Nissan, and Subaru. That's four Japanese companies, two Korean, one German, and two British. Continue to check back at GoodCarBadCar.net for more specific results from this significant month.

VALUE BRAND SALES IN MARCH

The Good Car Guy reviewed March auto sales in the States, took a look at how Volvo pushes older models in Canada, continued with a numerical view of the German vs. Japan luxury rivals, and peered into the Swedish/American high-end marques owned by Detroit's Big Two.  

How about the sales results for cars available on the cheap? For this post (and maybe for this post only), you can consider the following brands as the high-value badges that compete for your $ in America: Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Saturn, and Suzuki.  

If a company can't justify selling for premium or top dollar, they need volume. Among this group, Chevrolet and Ford best personify the 'volume' approach to selling. Ford's numbers this March were about 30,000 lower than in March of 2007, but with total sales of 187,828 volume still applies. Chevrolet's percentage drop was 10 points worse than Ford's. What was 213,156 vehicles sold in 28 selling days of March 2007 became 164,564 during the 26 sales days in March/2008. Volume, people. Volume.

Seeing 25,000-odd sales disappear from the third month one year to the third month of the next has got to be discouraging.  Disheartening. Perhaps... depressing. Disappointing for sure. Yes, there's an economic crisis. Housing prices, the cost of a new Xbox 360 once every month or two, food prices, fuel prices all suck.

Wait a second. Fuel prices? Ah, doesn't the cost of fuel drive some people to small cars? Ford, General Motors, and Dodge produce a decent small car, maybe two.  

Hyundai sales rose 9.8% this March. Its Kia underling had lower sales this March, 2.8% down. Mitsubishi and Suzuki are two companies that can't rightly afford to see - signs beside their percentage changes. The drop at Mitsu was 7.7% while Suzuki's fall was not as bad; just 2.6%.  

Despite the economic crisis, Saturn's very fresh lineup in the United States doesn't look like the sort of model array that fits with a 7.5% percentage loss compared with March/2007. You would think that the Astra, Vue, and Outlook would help Saturn reach into cash-challenged wallets. You would think that? You would be wrong.

PSEUDO-AMERICAN LUXURY

Ford Motor Company's remaining luxury brands post-Land Rover/Jaguar sale form a duo that is eerily similar to General Motors' upper tier tandem. Yes, it's Swedish/American.

The Ford trio of Brits are long gone. Aston Martin is now in handled by a British/Kuwaiti setup with some American influence, too. Jaguar and Land Rover are Tata's.  That leaves Dearborn with Volvo and Lincoln. General Motors sticks it out with fledgling Saab and Cadillac.  

All Cadillac, Lincoln, Saab or Volvo articles are available with a simple click

How do they do? March was not a good month for Ford. Lincoln faced a 20% drop in sales compared with the same period last year. Volvo met a drop of over 6%. This equates to approximately 5,000 fewer sales from those two brands this March. 

Meanwhile, Saab sales increased. 125 extra units exited dealer doors this March. Cadillac produced a slight percentage drop of 0.8 with sales down 1,490 vehicles during a month which held two fewer selling days. 

Although The Good Car Guy already discussed Japanese and German luxury sales last month, it is interesting to take note of the numbers.  

Cadillac sales personnel sold more cars than Audi, Infiniti, or Acura consultants could manage. Then again, two German brands (BMW & Mercedes-Benz) and Lexus sold at a greater rate than Caddy. Acura and Infiniti outperformed Lincoln. The Swedish battle was over before it started. Volvo only needed a little more than one quarter of the month to sell more than Saab's total.  

One more fact? The People's Car - that'd be Volkswagen - was outsold by Cadillac last March. This time around, Volkswagen produces a jump of over 20% and thus claimed a 2,134 advantage over the preeminent American luxury marque.

GERMANY vs JAPAN - luxury

In March of 2007, the trio of Japanese luxury marques - Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti - reached total US auto sales of 59,718.  That is more than the German luxury trio - BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz - which sold 54,957 vehicles last March.

In the 31 days of March just concluded, the Japanese triumvirate produced numbers of 52,048. Yes, that's down significantly. But don't blame Infiniti. (And don't forget about the two extra selling days in 03/07.) On the other hand, Germany's aged brands formed a total of 51,910. 

If you're curious, which you are or else you wouldn't be reading this, Lexus and BMW are their team leaders. Both brands have sales in the mid-20,000s.  Infiniti and Acura are in the mid-teens, with Mercedes around 5K ahead. Audi brings up the rear, but makes gains every month.  Audi and Infiniti sales were up over 7% when you take into account the number of selling days, comparing March/08 with March/07.

See all Audi or Acura or Lexus or Infiniti or BMW or Mercedes-related 

articles by clicking the links on this line

What does all this mean? I don't know. It is interesting, however, to see that Acura is facing tumbling sales month-over-month month-after-month-after month, but still sold about 5,301 more vehicles than Audi did in March.This is Audi, the company that tells us it will be the biggest worldwide luxury automotive seller sometime early next decade. It's also interesting that amidst the economic turmoil, money is somehow making itself available for 100,000+ sales from luxury brands. That's just these luxury brands. We've not touched on Saab, Volvo, Cadillac, Porsche, Jaguar or the ultra-luxury Bentley/Rolls-Royce/Ferrari field.  

Lexus sold twice as many cars as Buick did last month. So did Kia. Audi doubles Mini. Mercedes sells about 2 cars every time Mitsubishi sells one and after beating Saturn by a few hundred in March of 2007, Benz beat them by 2,662 vehicles this March. 

Still, Chevrolet; Ford, and Toyota all sell more cars than these six prominent luxury badges combined.

ASSUME THEIR CAR SALES ARE DOWN

If you were wondering how your favourite automobile brand fared in the USA during February - at least as compared with February of last year - wonder no more.  It is more than likely that they (Acura, Buick, Chrysler, Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru etc.) sucked.  Royally.  

Thank the tumbling housing market, nation-wide economic concern, and rising gas prices.  Although earlier this week we heard rumours of that the major Japanese makes would escape February unscathed. Not so much. Nissan and Toyota suffered sales drops of 3.2% and 6.3%, respectively.

Rather than explain everybody's bad news, GoodCarBadCar chooses to be positive.  Yeah, right. Whatever. 

Mini sales jumped 38.5%, but you can assume that additional models account for much of that growth. Honda growth did occur, but just 1.9%.  Mazda's + was 2.5% and Mercedes-Benz saw 3% higher sales than February of 2007.  

As Autoblog put it, the leap year simply "offered most automakers an extra day to suck", although the percentages you see relate to average daily selling rates.