U.S. auto sales for November are usually slow, but this year turned out to be different. Black Friday and low oil prices lured buyers to the showrooms. This helped the industry report sales of 1.3 million units, the highest in the past 14 years.
The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate came in at 18.19 million vehicles for November. As per Autodata Corp., 59% of November’s total volume were made of light truck and small SUVs. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, analysts are quite optimistic and have high hopes for the year. They believe that the year could break the record sale of 17.35 million vehicles, a landmark achieved in 2000.
The Detroit automakers registered marginal improvement in sales, which is quite decent in a typically slow month like November. General Motors (GM, Financial), Ford (F, Financial), and Chrysler saw sales gain of 1.5%, 0.4% and 3%. Asian automakers Toyota (TM, Financial) and Hyundai (HYMTF, Financial) also reported positive figures. However, Volkswagen’s (VLKAY, Financial) sales plunged drastically by almost 25%. Let’s take a closer look at the automakers’ performance during the month.
November: An encouraging month
General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker, sold 229,296 units due to strong sales of its trucks and crossovers. Sales of its brands including Chevrolet and Cadillac improved 4.8% and 1.8%, while that of Buick and GMC dropped by 16.6% and 1.9%. Silverado sales went up 5% during the month. SUVs continued to give steady support to the sales volume, while sedans sales remained soft.
The second largest U.S. automaker Ford saw sales of 187,794 vehicles in November. Though F-series pickups experienced 10% sale hikes, it was not able to compensate for the plunging sales of Escape SUV and Fusion sedan. Lincoln sales dropped 2.4%.
Ford recently introduced a new “Holiday Sales Event” which includes interest-free 60 months financing arrangements and cash back of as much as $1,000 on selective models. Ford VP of U.S. marketing Mark LaNeve believes that such incentives should help push its sales in the concluding month of the year.
Chrysler witnessed sales increase of 3% to 175,974 vehicles. Not only is this month the company’s best in the last 15 months, but it’s also the 68th straight month of sales gains. The increase is attributable to the sales volumes of Jeep and Ram truck, up 20% and 1%.
Performance of other automakers
Toyota’s sales volume increased 3%, powered by crossovers and SUVs. The combined sales of Toyota brand crossovers, SUVs and pickup trucks surged 5%, while RAV4 sales grew a mammoth 30%. Lexus luxury brand posted 7% sales rise.
Toyota’s domestic rival and Japanese automaker, Honda, however, could not rise up to the expectations. Honda’s November sales dropped 5%. Honda and the Acura luxury brand sales plunged 4% and 18%. The combined sales of the crossovers, SUVs and pickups fell 5%. The only bright spot was Honda Pilot SUV that saw sales surge of 19% to 10,975 units.
Last word
Automakers have already delivered approximately 15.83 million vehicles through the first 11 months of the years, and appear to be on track to break the record of 17.35 million vehicles sold in 2000. November has got the momentum going. Let’s stay tuned for December and see whether the industry breaks the record to finish the year on a momentous note.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned in this article.
