Segment decline continues with only Dodge Charger managing positive growth
Sales in the US Large segment fell by 20.3% to 135,494 in the first half of 2019, continuing the decline for the once-1 million plus segment. [Read more…]
Segment sees sales decline lessen as barrage of new models hope to recover ground lost to crossovers
Sales in the US Mid-sized segment fell by 5.8% to 822,522 in the first half of 2019, a slightly less bad performance than the 10% plus sales decline the model experienced in 2017 and 2018. What’s more, while the sheen of newness may be coming off the latest Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, and the Ford Fusion leaving the segment, there will be [Read more…]
Compact segment is heading towards one of its worst year of the past three decades
Sales in the US Compact segment fell by 15.5% to 821,200 in the first half of 2019. If the segment’s performance turns any more sour, 2019 may mark its biggest sales decline of the past three years, topping the 17% sales decline the segment experienced in 2009. In fact, with few new models on the horizon the segment’s decline appears [Read more…]
After looking at June sales by brand, let us now look at how individual models performed. [Read more…]
From early 2020, Europeans will no longer be able to officially buy new Infiniti cars. The brand started in 2008 but hasn’t managed to gain a foothold in the European luxury car market, even after launching a pair of new cars that were specifically designed for this market. During a time of cost savings, Infiniti’s parent company Nissan has decided to give up trying to be an alternative to the German brands and Lexus, and to focus on markets where it has been successful, the US and China.
What went wrong for Infiniti? I think there are three factors that made this venture troublesome from the get-go, and one more trigger that caused the plug to be pulled this year. [Read more…]
The stagnation of the Chinese car market has continued in the second quarter of 2019, with double digit declines in April and May, and an 8,3% loss in June, which market the 12th consecutive month of declines. In the first half of the year, just under 10 million new passenger cars were delivered to Chinese dealers, nearly 15% fewer than in the same period last year. These figures exclude commercial vehicles, minivans and imported cars. In the short term, the Beijing government is not planning any incentives to prop up the market, and in fact is sharply reducing subsidies on one of the fastest growing segments of the Chinese car market: that of EVs and plug-in hybrids. Rather, the government seems to see this market contraction as an excellent opportunity to consolidate the market as (too) small players will be forced to close down or be taken over, while the larger state-owned carmakers also feel extra pressure to merge their operations and cut loss-making domestic brands. Also, China’s central government has pressured most major cities and provinces to adopt State 6 emissions rules (which are similar to the Euro 6 standards) on July 1. This caused local dealerships to offer steep discounts on vehicles that don’t meet these standards. The upside of this is that by now most dealerships have reduced their inventory so there’s hope that the second half of the year will be a whole new ballgame.
After managing to eke out its first sales increase of the year in May, the US market was back to where it had spend every other month in 2019 – firmly, if not deeply in the red. This time, this meant a sales decline of 2.2% compared to June’19, perfectly in line with the 2.3% YTD sales decline. That said, many in the market remain optimistic sales [Read more…]
Segment sales rise quickly on the back of good Ford Expedition and GMC Yukon sales growth
Sales in the US Large SUV segment rose by 19.2% to 186,534 in the first half of 2019, a marked acceleration on the 4.6% sales growth the segment experienced in 2018. With the new Ford Expedition still in the growth phase, and the new Chevrolet and GMC models sure to debut before the end of the year, it looks like the segment’s [Read more…]
The US car market managed to eke out its first sales increase in 2019, although the meagre 0.1% sales growth hardly made a dent in the YTD sales decline, which now stands at 2.2%. That said, May is often viewed as a weathervane for the rest of the year, and if this turns out to be the case in 2019, there may yet be a chance for the market’s [Read more…]
After looking at April sales by brand, let us now look at how individual models performed. [Read more…]
