Auto Makers Report Steep Sales Declines in April

The slowdowns raise the prospect that car companies may need to curtail production

May 2, 2017

Auto makers signaled their hot streak in the U.S. is rapidly cooling, as demand last month turned surprisingly sluggish for the trucks and SUVs that have fueled record profits for domestic players.

General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday reported declines in April of 5.8% and 7.1%, respectively, compared with the same month last year. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV reported a 7% decline, as sales at its Jeep brand continued to tumble.

Another troubling sign: It is taking dealers far longer to sell off inventory, resulting in a glut of unsold cars and trucks. GM, the No. 1 U.S. auto maker, has nearly 1 million vehicles sitting on dealer lots.

Overall, auto makers sold 1.43 million vehicles in the U.S. in April, down 4.7% from a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp.

The U.S. auto industry has been on a winning streak since bailouts rescued GM and Chrysler in 2009. After seven straight years of sales gains, including two consecutive record performances, demand has cooled in 2017’s first four months despite soaring discounts.

Discounts are nearing an average of $4,000 per car or truck sold, according to J.D. Power, denting the favorable impact that selling a richer mix of pricier Ford F-150s or Cadillac Escalades can deliver.





Working down high inventories can take a deep financial toll. Ford., the No.2 seller in the U.S., faced a glut last spring and took tough actions to work it down. The company, however, has reported four consecutive quarterly earnings declines, and its share price has suffered.

GM already has relatively low utilization of its North American factories, according to WardsAuto.com. It has laid off thousands of hourly employees due to a collapse of demand for fuel-sipping passenger cars. Now, its core truck business is also showing fatigue.

A record 17.55 million vehicles were sold in 2016.

Mark Wakefield, global co-head of consultancy Alix Partners’ automotive practice, said he was encouraged that some auto makers have pulled back on passenger-car production, such as Chevrolet Malibu sedans or Ford’s Focus compacts.

The largest Japanese auto maker, Toyota Motor Corp. , reported a 4.4% drop in April sales. Honda Motor Co.’s U.S. sales decreased 7% for the month. Nissan Motor Co. —among the only mass-market players posting growth for 2017—reported its first sales decline of the year, with April sales dropping 1.5%.

Banks Pull Back on Car Loans as Used-Auto Prices Plummet

May 3, 2017

Big banks are pulling back sharply from auto loans, helping drive a drop in car sales and raising fears the slump might deepen.

Bankers’ caution is increasingly showing up in car sales, which Tuesday came in worse than expected for April. The declines are mostly occurring in lending to riskier borrowers, in particular those with low credit scores, where lending had ramped up for years.

“A very accommodating finance environment had been in place for some time,” said Bruce Clark, lead auto analyst and senior vice president at Moody’s Investors Service . “What you’re seeing right now is a pullback and the resulting pressure on unit vehicle sales.”

Some banks, including regionals Fifth Third Bancorp and Citizens Financial Group Inc., are beginning to retreat from higher-quality “prime” auto loans as new risks emerge.

Some anticipated the market would cool off after record new car sales in 2015 and 2016. But banks are also posting higher losses on defaulted auto loans, hit by a mix of more borrowers falling behind on payments and the declining value of used cars.

When lenders repossess cars, they resell the vehicles and use the proceeds from the sale to recover as much of the unpaid balance as possible. Declining values mean that lenders are recouping a smaller share of those balances. Lenders who are repossessing cars tied to prime auto loans that were securitized in 2015 are recovering about 51% of the unpaid loan balances on average, down from 56% for 2014 loans and 65% for 2011 loans, according to S&P Global Ratings.

In recent years auto sales have relied heavily on the flow of easy credit. Now, subprime borrowers have fewer loan options and face higher interest rates. This is being felt at dealerships, especially with used cars.

Acura continues to show renewed momentum in the second quarter as TLX—the brand's best selling sedan—gained ground again in May after a record-setting April. Sales of Acura's sporty RDX also surged in May, joined by strong sales of MDX to push Acura trucks ahead of last year. Overall, the Acura division showed an increase of 2.8 percent on sales of 13,939 vehicles.

• TLX gained 8.4 percent in May on sales of 3,508 units, creating momentum for the refreshed 2018 TLX hitting dealer showrooms across the U.S. today.
• RDX enjoyed another strong month in a very competitive segment, rising 12.8 percent on sales of 5,149 in May.
• MDX sales were up 2.4 percent in May with 4,307 units sold, just as the company began dual sourcing production for the MDX at the company's East Liberty Plant in Ohio.
• Acura trucks were up 7.8 percent overall on sales of 9,456 units.

"With a perfect sense of timing, the redesigned 2018 Acura TLX starts sales today just as the outgoing TLX is enjoying some of its best months," said Jon Ikeda, vice president & general manager of the Acura division. "Coupled with the recently launched MDX Sport Hybrid, the Acura brand is building renewed energy through the brand's distinctive performance direction."