The headlines are grim. "U.S. Auto Sales in the Ditch in June," says the Los Angeles Times. USA Today blares, "Auto Sales Plunge in June." The AP goes with, "June Car Sales Plummet, More Declines Expected." Reuters calls June's figures a 15-year low. The Chicago Tribune one-ups them with "Auto Sales Hit 17-Year Low."
We'll start with the Chicago Tribune, then: "June didn't bust out all over for the auto industry. It just went bust. Though it's usually one of the strongest sales months, this June was the industry's worst in 17 years, according to figures reported Tuesday. And there's no sign of improvement with carmakers on track to sell fewer than 15 million vehicles this year, the lowest annual total since 1995."
Reuters explains, "Record gas prices and declining trade-in values for big trucks and SUVs hit truck sales hard while major automakers, including Toyota Motor Corp struggled to keep up with demand for some popular smaller cars and hybrids."
Forbes tallies the damage, reporting, "General Motors Corp. said Tuesday its U.S. sales sank 18.5 percent in June led by declining sales of its heavier and less fuel-efficient models, but it held off Toyota to retain the top U.S. sales spot." Another Forbes story reports: "Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday its June U.S. sales tumbled, on steep drop in demand for sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks. Ford sold a total of 173,582 light vehicles in June, down 28 percent from 240,845 in the same month last year."
Chrysler again took the biggest hit among major automakers. According to the AP, Chrysler's sales fell 36 percent compared to June of last year. The lone major automaker to report a gain was Honda. Forbes explains that Honda and Acura sales "rose a combined 1 percent to 142,539 last month from 140,935 in June 2007."
The Detroit Free Press says there is little hope of a quick recovery. "Few expect the suffering to end soon as automakers cut truck production and scramble to build more of the fuel-efficient cars that are showing sales strength." Putting the damage in perspective, the Free Press adds, "U.S. auto sales plunged 18.3% in June from a year before -- twice the decline registered in September 2001, when the nation was shaken by terrorist attacks."
Still, amid the rubble, a few see positive signs for the auto industry. CNN Money notes that "Stocks struggled higher Tuesday -- with the Dow and Nasdaq pushing off bear market levels -- after GM reported a June sales loss that was steep, but not as steep as had been expected." GM's "U.S. sales fell 18% in June versus a year ago. While that continued the string of big losses for the auto sector, the figure was shy of the 25% decline analysts had been looking for."
Autoblog, meanwhile, says the sales declines being reported elsewhere are somewhat exaggerated. While they conceded that June was rough for many automakers, they caution "there were only 24 selling days last month versus 27 days in June, 2007. This makes comparing raw sales numbers misleading, since there were three fewer days to sell." Instead, Autoblog looks at the change in Daily Sales Rate, and reports that General Motors saw only about an eight percent drop in per-day sales, less than the nearly 19 percent drop that results from looking at total sales. Ford sales, however, still dropped more than 19 percent, even by that measure.
If you're interested in economic rubbernecking, we should note that the crown for worst overall sales went once again to Hummer. The Los Angeles Times reports, "Sales were down 40% through June. … Last month, GM said it had hired Citibank to help it evaluate a sale of its Hummer division."
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