August 2, 2006

Domestic sales down, most imports up in July, analyst says

Richmond Hill, Ontario - Sales of passenger cars and light trucks were down 8.5 per cent in July 2006 from a year ago, says industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers, although the month's sales should still be considered respectable.

"As expected, July was a very soft month, with sales down 8.5 per cent from a year ago July," DesRosiers says. "This was expected because last July was the start of the incentive-laden 'employee discount' months in Canada and there was no way that the OEMs could match last July's numbers. This is very evident in the GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler numbers which led the incentive wars last year. By historical standards, July was actually quite a respectable sales month, but relative to last year it could not match this inflated performance."

General Motors was down 26 per cent in July, but "don't be alarmed by GM's declines, since they are doing a lot of other things which are bringing down their numbers, but things that are good for them - reducing dependence on fleet sales and heavy incentives, for instance, and not pouring a lot of very old platform vehicles into the market," DesRosiers says. "I would argue it is about time they did this, and if they had faced up to these issues years ago, they would be in better shape today.

"DaimlerChrysler struggled for the second consecutive month and their situation is more troublesome, since they have a lot of incentive money in the market and are pushing fleet volumes. Despite the use of these and other safety valves, they are still struggling to move product, which indicates a deeper malaise in DaimlerChrysler than what the numbers may indicate. This deserves further study, though, and I don't want to ring the alarm bells just yet."

Overall, domestic nameplates were down 16.5 per cent, while import nameplates were up 2.2 per cent. Vehicle sales in Canada for July 2006 were:

Manufacturer	July 2006	July 2005	Per cent change
DaimlerChrysler	18,642	21,613	-13.7
Ford	22,794	23,029	-1.0
General Motors	32,427	43,838	-26.0
Acura	1,617	1,898	-14.8
Audi	700	632	+10.8
BMW	1,605	1,558	+3.0
Honda	13,228	13,406	-1.3
Hyundai	6,520	6,210	+5.0
Infiniti	504	648	-22.2
Jaguar	65	80	-18.8
Kia	2,891	2,705	+6.9
Land Rover	160	196	-18.4
Lexus	1,027	731	+40.5
Mazda	8,321	8,313	+0.1
Mercedes-Benz	945	943	+ 0.2
Mini	319	315	+ 1.3
Mitsubishi	926	943	- 1.8
Nissan	5,065	5,974	-15.2
Porsche	133	165	-19.4
Saab	247	303	-18.5
Smart	278	419	-33.7
Subaru	1,267	1,300	-2.5
Suzuki	807	753	+7.2
Toyota	17,110	14,846	+15.2
Volkswagen	3,347	2,987	+12.1
Volvo	704	1,025	-31.3
Light vehicle sales	141,649	154,830	-8.5
Passenger car	76,556	80,413	-4.8
Light truck	65,093	74,417	-12.5

More News....