Solid customer demand backed by low gasoline prices in the U.S. made April a great month for the automakers. Buyers were prepared to shed more money on their new vehicles, sending the average transaction price for new vehicles up 2.6% to more than $33,000. Detroit automakers -- General Motors (GM, Financial), Ford (F, Financial) and Chrysler posted stunning sales gain during the month, registering an increase of 6%, 5% and 6%, respectively. Here’s a detailed look at the performance of the automakers.
Detroit automakers give a strong performance
Strong April sales in the U.S. was supported by solid demands for pickup trucks and crossover sports utility vehicles. As per Autodata, the industry sold 1.45 million vehicles during the month, selling 4.6% more vehicles from the same period last year.
General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker, posted a sales gain of 6% to 269,056 vehicles in comparison with the previous year. The sales improvement was led by strong demand for trucks and crossover SUVs that recorded double digit growth. The sales of the company’s luxury brand Cadillac surged 13.2%. GM’s top seller, Chevrolet Silverado pickups registered a sales gain of 8% to 46,978 units. In contrast, the sales of Buick plunged 5.2%. However, that had a negligible impact on the company’s overall growth.
The second largest American automaker Ford sold 222,498 vehicles, up 5% from the same period last year. Solid sales of SUVs helped the company to end the month on a happy note. It was the best April in Ford’s SUVs history, with the company selling 62,730 units. The sales of Edge and compact Escape surged 28% and 5%, respectively. Ford’s luxury brand Lincoln also posted impressive sales rise of 19.6% to 8,134 new vehicles. However, the company’s top selling vehicle, the F-Series, is yet to come back to form. Ford is still in the process of ramping up the F-Series production to stock its dealers with the latest aluminium bodied F-150. F-Series sales were down 0.9% to 62,827. It’s noteworthy that despite this, the pickup remains the most popular vehicle in America.
Chrysler reported stunning sales in April selling 189,027 vehicles, up 6% powered by solid sales of new cars and trucks in the U.S. car market. Jeep Brand sales surged 20%, whereas the sales of Ram rose 4%. This is the best April the carmaker has seen since 2007.
Performance of other automakers
Toyota (TM, Financial) posted a tiny sales gain of 1.8%. This was unexpected of the automaker, particularly after the solid performance it’s given in the first quarter of the year. The combined sales of Toyota’s trucks and SUVs made an April record, but sales of most of the other Toyota and Scion models fell flat. RAV4 and Highlander witnessed strong sales and saw the best ever April. The combined sales of Tacoma and Tundra pickups climbed 9%. Bill Fay, Toyota division group vice president and general manager said "Light truck sales have carried the auto industry to its best start in 15 years… the demand for crossover SUVs is off the charts, and both the RAV4 and Highlander set April records."
Subaru posted a strong month with sales up by a good 18%. Hyundai (HYMTF, Financial) witnessed 3% sales gain in the U.S., which was led by the Elantra compact that reported stunning sales and its best-ever April. Honda’s (HMC, Financial) sales plunged 1.8%. This was primarily a result of poor Accord sales that was down 20.1%. Volkswagen’s sales were down 2.7% to 30,009 units.
The performance of the Big Three – GM, Ford, and Chrysler – was quite upbeat. Foreign auto players such as Toyota, Subaru and Hyundai also saw their share of gain, though Honda and Volkswagen’s performance was disappointing. Overall, the industry appears quite healthy with stronger pricing power.
