Posting several articles that are coming out, starting today, about Oct. vehicle sales in the USA market.

 

U.S. car and light-truck sales, October and year-to-date

Automotive News / November 03, 2003

Ford Motor Co. on Monday reported sales of its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands were down 2.3 percent in October from a year ago, as strong sales of its new F-150 pickup were offset by declines in several car models.

General Motors, DaimlerChrysler AG and other automakers are scheduled to report results later on Monday.

October sales are expected to hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 16.1 million vehicles, according to a survey of analysts by Reuters.

The summer's strong auto sales contributed to the U.S. economic surge in the third quarter, when the gross domestic product rocketed ahead by a 7.2 percent annual rate, its highest level in more than 19 years.

After boosting sales incentives to an average of more than $3,000 per vehicle in August, a slew of new 2004 models now in dealerships carries far less generous offers. A similar pattern was blamed for last October's weak rate.


Oct. Oct. Pct. 10 mos. 10 mos. Pct.
2003 2002 chng. 2003 2002 chng.

BMW* – – – – – –
Daewoo – – – – 21,397 –
DaimlerChrysler** – – – – – –
Ford Motor Co.*** 281,672 288,378 –2.3 2,931,356 3,056,558 –4.1%
General Motors**** – – – – – –
American Honda† – – – – – –
Hyundai Group†† – – – – – –
Isuzu 2,071 4,538 -54.4 26,431 45,440 -41.8
Mazda – – – – – –
Mitsubishi – – – – – -
Nissan††† – – – – – –
Porsche – – – – – –
Subaru 14,785 16,978 –12.9% 158,456 151,330 4.7
Suzuki – – – – – –
Toyota‡ – – – – – –
VW‡‡ – – – – – –
Other (estimate) 132 184 -28.3 1,502 1,292 16.3
TOTAL 298,660 310,078 -3.7 3,117,745 3,276,017 16.3

Numbers in this table are calculated by Automotive News based on actual monthly sales reported by the manufacturers and may differ from numbers reported elsewhere.
Source: Automotive News Data Center
Note: Other includes estimates for Ferrari, Lamborghini and Lotus

*2003 includes Mini and Rolls-Royce; 2002 includes Mini
**Includes Mercedes-Benz
***Includes Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo
****Includes Saab

†Includes Honda Division and Acura
††Includes Hyundai and Kia
†††Includes Nissan Division and Infiniti
‡Includes Toyota Division and Lexus
‡‡2003 includes VW, Audi and Bentley; 2002 includes VW, Audi, Rolls-Royce/Bentley

 

Mercedes says Oct. U.S. unit sales rose 2.1%

Reuters / November 03, 2003

FRANKFURT -- German carmaker DaimlerChrysler AG said Monday that it had sold 19,273 of its Mercedes brand cars in the United States last month, 2.1 percent more than in October last year.

The October figures bring Mercedes sales in the world's biggest car market to 178,720 vehicles so far this year, up 3.6 percent from a year ago.

 

Porsche says October N.A. sales rose 85%
Reuters / November 03, 2003

FRANKFURT -- German sports car maker Porsche AG said Monday that it had sold 2,790 vehicles in the United States and Canada last month, 85 percent more than in October last year.

Porsche sold 1,341 Cayennes, its SUV launched in North America in March, while sales of its traditional 911 and Boxster sportscars were down 4 percent to 1,449 units.

 

Hyundai Motor October sales jump on exports
Reuters / November 03, 2003

SEOUL (Reuters) -- Hyundai Motor Co., posted a nine percent rise in October sales on Monday, aided by soaring exports to the United States and Europe but weighed down by stagnant domestic demand.

Hyundai affiliate Kia Motors Corp. and smaller rivals had similar results, as tighter consumer lending hit local sales, but improving global economic conditions boosted offshore demand.

Overall, five auto makers posted a 22 percent rise in sales in October to 406,736 vehicles compared with 333,164 a year ago.

Analysts said slower domestic sales would continue in the months ahead as surging consumer defaults and tougher financing delayed a long-awaited revival in consumer spending.

Kim Hag Ju, an auto analyst at Samsung Securities, said he did not expect domestic consumption to recover any time soon, but was upbeat on foreign sales.

"Declining inventories at overseas plants mean there would be more shipments in the coming months," Kim said.

Hyundai, 10 percent owned by U.S.-German auto maker DaimlerChrysler AG, said its sales in October rose to 198,122 vehicles from revised a 181,847 a year earlier.

"We had record monthly sales as a brightening world economic outlook bolstered overseas sales," said Hyundai spokesman Jake Jang.

"Key markets such as the United States, Europe and China enjoyed good sales."

Hyundai, which produces the Elantra compact and Sonata mid-sized sedan, exported 146,363 vehicles in October, up 28 percent from revised 114,179 units a year ago.

Buoyant shipments of automobiles powered South Korean exports for October, helping to stoke expectations that Asia's fourth-largest economy may be on the mend. The South Korean economy tipped into its first recession in five years in the first half on sluggish consumption.

Hyundai shares rose 2.4 percent to end at 40,400 won and Kia shares jumped five percent to 8,710, outshining the wider market's 1.23 percent rise.

SMALLER RIVALS

Kia, the country's second-largest auto maker, which makes the Sorento sport utility vehicle, said October sales rose 6.5 percent from a year earlier to 108,221 vehicles against 101,571.

Kia said exports during October jumped 28 percent to 81,421 vehicles from 63,492 a year ago. It said a better brand image in the North American markets bolstered demand for its new large model Opirus.

GM Daewoo Automotive and Technology, South Korea's third-largest auto maker, said October exports rose to 70,275 vehicles to take total sales to 80,313 from 21,998 a year earlier.

General Motors Corp., the world's largest auto maker, and partners took a majority stake in some of the assets of Daewoo Motor last year, creating the unlisted GM Daewoo. The former Daewoo Motor Co. halted U.S. exports in 2001 due to financial stress.

The South Korean unit of French auto maker Renault SA posted a 36 percent fall in October sales to 8,007 units on falling domestic sales.

Sport untility vehicle maker Ssangyong Motor Co. said its October sales fell 21 percent to 12,073 vehicles compared to 15,292 a year earlier. Ssangyong, which makes the Rexton and Korando SUVs, sells most of its vehicles at home.

 

adding some meat to the bone (VERY long)

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., the world's second largest automaker, said October U.S. sales fell 1.9 percent as carmakers offered fewer rebates and fires and higher fees in California cut consumer demand in the largest U.S. auto market.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker sold 282,468 vehicles, including imports and heavy-duty trucks, according to a statement. Passenger car sales fell 9.1 percent and truck sales rose 2.2 percent. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected Ford's sales to rise 1.7 percent.

``One possible excuse was the southern California fires and they were trying to use lower incentives to sell 2004 models and both of those factors may have hurt sales,'' said Burnham Securities analyst David Healy, who owns Ford shares and predicted a 4 percent sales increase.

U.S. auto sales rose at a rate equal to 16.2 million on an annual basis, up from 15.4 million in the 2002 period, according to the average of analysts and economists polled by Bloomberg News. Vehicle sales rose 7.7 percent at Chrysler and were unchanged at General Motors Corp., according to the analysts in the survey. All automakers will report U.S. sales today.

``We're still not seeing a strong underlying demand that people look for to get away from incentives, but we see sales running at a very solid pace of about 16.5 million,'' said Scott Thompson, chief financial officer at Group 1 Automotive Inc., the fifth largest U.S. auto retailer by sales. Group 1 third quarter profit rose 10 percent to $21.7 million.

U.S.-based automakers' share of the market excluding import brands such as Ford's Volvo, fell to 60.1 percent in 2003's first nine months from 61.7 percent in year-earlier period, according to Autodata Corp. Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and other Asian companies' share rose to a record 32.9 percent from 31.4 percent, Autodata said.

For the first half of October, General Motors' spending for incentives dropped less than 1 percent to $4,313. Ford spent $4,271, down 2.7 percent, and Chrysler's spending declined less than 1 percent to $4,238. Combined October car and truck incentives fell almost 1 percent from record September levels to $3,845, CNW said.

Chief financial officers at General Motors and DaimlerChrysler said last month that an expanding U.S. economy is relieving some of the pressure to offer discounts, which have eroded U.S. automaker profits since 2001. Incentives offered by automakers may have fallen in October for the first time in five months, according to preliminary figures from CNW Marketing Research.

Ford sales of the F-Series pickups, the industry's top-selling line of vehicles, rose 12 percent to 68,828 and accounted for 28 percent of all Ford sales. Taurus, Ford's best-selling car, dropped 5 percent to 26,849 and sales of the Focus small car fell 12 percent to 19,275. Explorer sales dropped 16 percent to 30,124.

Asian carmakers including Japan's Nissan Motor Co. and South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co., each reported sales gains for the month. Sales of Nissan and Infiniti autos grew 18 percent to 67,988, and Hyundai posted a 9.8 percent gain to 28,878. Toyota, which reports later today, also expects a sales gain from October 2002, spokesman Irving Miller said on Friday.

An increase in overall October sales would mark the fifth year-ver-year increase in the past six months.

Steady purchases of autos and light trucks during the past two years defied the usual pattern of consumer retrenchment during recessions, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Michael Moskow said today.

The market will have to get a lot stronger before domestic-based auto units are able to reduce incentives, Group 1's Thompson said. The Houston-based company's dealership sales are 47 percent domestic and 53 percent foreign brands and the foreign brands continue to gain ground, he said.

Each market-share point represents about 165,000 vehicles a year and as much as $1.16 billion in pretax operating revenue, according to David Bradley, a J.P. Morgan Securities analyst.

General Motors' chief market analyst Paul Ballew said Oct. 20 that the world's largest automaker's sales would lag the October industry increase. He said last week it's possible fires in California also might lower October sales.

The pace of California sales, accounting for more than 12 percent of new autos sold nationwide, slowed as state vehicle registration fees tripled after Oct. 1, Ford, Toyota and Honda officials said. A surge in sales last month, ahead of the fees, was credited with boosting U.S. September sales 2.1 percent.

``Overall for our (California) dealers sales are down 30 percent month on month'' from September, said Octavio Navarro, a Ford spokesman based in Mission Viejo, California.

Analysts predict 2003 sales, which averaged a 16.6 million rate the first three quarters, will be in a range of 16.5 million to 16.6 million cars and trucks, down from 16.8 million in 2002 and slightly lower than the 16.7 million average for the previous five years, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank and Bloomberg data.

 

oops...beat me to it, ehh???

 

Volkswagen Earnings Fall 51% in Quarter

USA TODAY - October 30, 2003

German automaker Volkswagen said Wednesday that earnings fell 51% in the third quarter. It blamed the strong euro and charges for cutting jobs in Brazil.

Also Wednesday, the company announced that the new Phaeton luxury sedan from its mainstream Volkswagen brand will have a base price of $64,600 in the United States. That's about the same price as high-end models from luxury brands such as Lexus and Mercedes-Benz.

The Phaeton is Volkswagen's first entry into the high end of the German-built luxury segment. It arrives at U.S. dealerships in November.

Net profit in the third quarter fell to $254 million, while sales were flat, climbing 0.3% to $24.8 billion, the automaker said.

It said its full-year operating earnings would be less than half of last year's total.

''The negative impact of the strong euro, declining sales figures in important markets and upfront expenditures for new models, as well as the restructuring in Brazil, depressed the operating profit in the first nine months,'' the company said.

The third-quarter results were less than investment analysts expected. Volkswagen's shares fell 2% to close at $50.20 on the Frankfurt exchange.

(c) Copyright 2003 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

 

Honda 2nd Quarter Profit Rises 58%





just-sites.com - October 28, 2003

Honda Motor on Tuesday said its fiscal second-quarter net profit rose 58%, helped by stronger sales in North America and Asia, Dow Jones reported.

The company also raised its full-year outlook for net profit by 10% to 470 billion yen despite the stronger yen, the report added. According to Dow Jones, Honda reported group net income of 137.36 billion yen ($US1.27 billion) for the latest quarter ending Sept. 30, compared with 87.18 billion yen for the same period last year, while operating profit for the quarter fell 0.9% to 151.69 billion yen from 153.05 billion yen.

Sales increased 5.2% to 2.017 trillion yen from 1.917 trillion yen, as unit sales in all of Honda's business areas increased, the Dow Jones report said.

Honda reportedly said it assumes the dollar will average 110 yen against the Japanese currency in its fiscal second half, compared with earlier expectations of 115 yen.

Dow Jones said, for the first half, the company posted a 23% rise in net profit to 239.18 billion yen from 194.78 billion yen on a 4.4% gain in revenue to 4.025 trillion yen, up from 3.854 trillion yen.

First-half operating profit fell 6.8% to 301.87 billion yen from 323.87 billion yen, the report added.

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