Posted on May 9, 2013, at 2:00 am
 In April, two light-truck segments—large pickups and compact crossovers (CUVs)—outpaced the industry’s 4.3% increase significantly and each gained nearly 2 more percentage points of market share, while the largest-volume midsize sedan segment lost favor and nearly 2 points of share in the U.S. market during the month.
Compact crossovers (CUVs) soared by 22.4% in April and garnered a 12.9% share of industry sales in the U.S. market—up from 11.0% a year ago. These small vehicles outsold large pickups in April, which also captured a larger 11.9% share of sales, up from 10.2% a year ago. Large pickup deliveries roared ahead 22% in the past month vs. April 2012.
Midsize sedans and coupes, one of the most overcrowded and competitive of 22 segments, saw sales dip 5.9% from a year ago. The U.S. market’s highest-volume segment’s share slipped to 16.4% from 18.2% in April 2012. Also, model dominance in this segment has been moving around. Two months ago, in March, the Nissan Altima was the monthly sales leader, while in April, the Honda Accord led the pack of midsize cars, even with lower sales than in the same month a year ago. Perennial sales leader Toyota Camry ranked second in sales during these months, although Camry was still the midsize sedan sales leader through the first four months of 2013. Continue reading ›
Posted on May 2, 2013, at 2:00 am
 U.S. light-vehicle sales in April 2013 were set to reach 1.286 million unit sales, which would be up 4% from a year ago on a selling-day adjusted basis,* according to an update from J.D. Power and Associates and its strategic partner, LMC Automotive. The sales rate in April would translate to a slightly lower 14.9 million-unit seasonally-adjusted selling pace.
Early automaker reports indicate that sales (unadjusted) will rise about 9% from a year ago, partly due to higher demand for large pickups and compact crossovers.
The Detroit Three led sales gains with double-digit increases from April 2012. They outpaced two of their top-volume Japan-based rivals—Toyota and Honda Groups. In early results, the third major Japanese automaker, Nissan Group, reported one of the best year-over-year gains—sales were up 23% on an unadjusted basis from April 2012.
Demand was particularly strong for large pickups with improvement in the housing and construction markets. The resilience of the U.S. consumer’s pent-up demand also bolstered sales, according to Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive. He said consumer spending remains remarkably stronger than the economy suggests it should be. Continue reading ›
Posted on January 17, 2013, at 2:00 am
 The Ford F-Series and Chevrolet Silverado LD and HD versions were the best-selling models in the U.S. auto market in 2012. Together, more than 1 million of these two truck models were sold last year. In addition, another truck, Chrysler Group’s Ram pickup (LD and HD) ranked seventh among all models sold, with deliveries of more than 293,300 units.
On the car side, the Toyota Camry, which was redesigned for the 2012 model year, remained the top-volume car and best-selling midsize sedan in the U.S. market. It also was the third-best-selling model overall in 2012, with sales of more than 404,000 units. Two additional redesigned-for-2013 midsize sedans—the Honda Accord (No. 4) and Nissan Altima (No. 6)—were among the 10 best-selling models in 2012. Continue reading ›
Posted on June 4, 2012, at 8:19 am
 The strength of new car and light-truck sales during May helped offset some concern about a slowing U.S. economy. There is still pent-up demand in the U.S. market as vehicle owners replace their aging cars and trucks, while an easing in credit makes it easier to finance long-term loans, which helps drive sales growth, according to analysis from J.D. Power’s Power Information Network® (PIN) and LMC Automotive.*
In May, total light-vehicle sales reached nearly 1.335 million units, up 16% from the same month a year ago (on a selling-day adjusted basis).** May’s seasonally adjusted annual sales pace (SAAR) averaged only 13.8 million units, which was below April’s 14.4 million-unit pace, but better than last May’s 11.7 million-unit pace.
The sales gains in May were led by Japanese automakers’ year-over-year double-digit increases, which were signs of a full recovery from last year, when these automakers were hampered by production setbacks in Japan following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in that country. Continue reading ›
Posted on December 21, 2011, at 7:00 am
 Grace Hamulic Premium sporty cars and large pickups remained the most popular models with male buyers during the first 11 months of 2011, based on real-time transaction data from J.D. Power’s Power Information Network® (PIN).
Six of the 10 new-vehicle models with the highest percentages of male buyers or lessees this year are light trucks—large pickups or vans. The two best-selling models in the US market through the first 11 months of 2011—the Ford F-Series and Chevrolet Silverado—are among the models with the highest percentages of male buyers. Both the F-Series and Silverado have posted higher sales this year vs. 2010, and the category’s sales have also outpaced the industry this year—year-to-date, large pickup sales are up slightly more than the industry’s 10% gain. Continue reading ›
Posted on December 12, 2011, at 7:08 am
 Despite fuel costs that are 14% higher than last year and increased demand for compact models with more efficient powertrains this year, two domestic large pickups remain the best sellers in the US market through November, based on Power Information Network® (PIN) and LMC Automotive research data.
During the first 11 months of 2011, nearly 500,000 Ford F-Series trucks were sold—up nearly 9% from the same period a year ago (selling day adjusted). The Chevrolet Silverado is the second best-selling model in the US market with sales of nearly 367,400 units for a 12% increase over last year. Another large pickup, the Ram 1500 from the Fiat-Chrysler Group just made the Top 20 model list this year. Ram sales climbed by nearly 25% from a year ago. Combined Ram LD and HD sales gave the truck seventh place standing in the US market. Continue reading ›
Posted on November 7, 2011, at 8:19 am
  Robust light-vehicle sales in the US market during the final days of October helped push the month’s sales totals higher than anticipated, according to J.D. Power and LMC Forecasting analysis and data.* Retail deliveries averaged a 10.5 million-unit selling pace in October, which matched September’s retail sales pace. Fleet sales averaged nearly a 2.7 million-unit rate, which was up by 900,000 units from October 2010.
Total October deliveries (including retail and fleet) rose 11.5% from the same month a year ago to 1.02 million units from nearly 950,000 unit sales in the same month last year. The annual selling rate (SAAR) in October averaged 13.2 million units, which was 1 million units stronger than last October’s 12.2 million-unit pace. It was the strongest selling pace since February 2011. Continue reading ›
Posted on September 6, 2011, at 10:43 am
Ford remained the best-selling nameplate in August and also the nameplate with the best-selling model in the US market—the F-Series pickup. Ford captured 15.4% of industry sales in August, up from 14.26% a year ago. Brand sales rose 11.7% from August 2010—to 164,843 units.
Chevrolet continued to hold onto the second-highest brand share in . . . Continue Reading Ford Brand and F-Series Still Top-Volume Leaders
Posted on August 24, 2011, at 1:57 pm
 Mike Omotoso This week, Ford and Toyota announced that they will work together to develop a hybrid powertrain system for rear-wheel-drive (RWD) light trucks (pickups) and SUVs that is slated to be ready later in the decade. A goal is to increase fuel efficiency and to meet higher CAFE rules. The two automakers say that collaborating on the project will help both companies create fuel-efficient hybrid systems faster and at lower cost.
Both Ford and Toyota have something to offer in the venture. Toyota brings over a decade of experience in hybrid research and development. The Japanese automaker has been selling the Toyota Prius since 1997 in Japan (since 2000 in the US), and currently installs hybrid systems in RWD vehicles such as the Lexus GS 450h and the LS 600h L. However, the automaker also needs to develop a more powerful hybrid system to remain competitive with its Toyota brand RWD pickup trucks and SUVs and Lexus SUVs
Partner Ford is moving away from NiMH (nickel-metal-hydride) batteries and toward Li-ion (lithium ion) batteries, and has developed the Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ hybrids to have better fuel economy than the Toyota Camry hybrid. Ford also has the best-selling large pickup truck in America with the F-Series, so they can bring their expertise in pickups to the table as well. Continue reading ›
Posted on August 5, 2011, at 6:23 am
 Dave Cutting Retail light-vehicle sales in July were up only 5.5% from a year ago. Although the month’s sales began on a strong note following the July 4th holiday weekend, the sales pace slowed as the month progressed. The retail seasonally adjusted annual selling pace (SAAR) in July averaged 9.5 million units vs. 9.2 million units a year ago. Fleet sales were up 1.0% in July this year vs. last July and finished with a 2.6 million-unit selling rate, up from 2.3 million units in July 2010. However, fleets accounted for just 15.6% of total sales in July vs. 16.2% a year ago. Also, seasonality factors were recently revised by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, resulting in some monthly SAAR changes for each month this year.
In July, total new-car and light-truck (retail and fleet) sales rose 4.8% from last year on a selling-day-adjusted basis.* (Unadjusted totals were up by less than 1% from July 2010.) Automakers delivered 1,057,172 cars and light trucks in July 2011—only 9,457 more unit sales than in July 2010. However, since July 2011 had one less selling day than in July a year ago, the total light-vehicle SAAR represented a 12.2 million-unit pace vs. 11.5 million units in July of 2010.
New Vehicles Remain Slightly Longer on Lots before Being Sold
On an encouraging note, the credit environment in the US auto industry appears to be steadily improving. Based on analysis of our Power Information Network® (PIN) retail transaction data, retail finance sales were up 1.7 percentage points from last July and lease penetration was up 0.7 points. Yet, at the industry level, cars and light trucks remained on retailer lots four days longer before selling than in June, and the retail turn rate averaged two days longer than a year ago. Continue reading ›
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