International Nameplates Sales up 8.2% in September
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Contributing Editor AIADA
International nameplate brands continued to rack up sales increases in September, posting a 5.9% increase for the year to date, versus a 2.8% increase for the industry for a whole. Sales increased 8.2% in September over the same month last year.
Thanks to steady growth for Internationals, and a drop in sales at General Motors and Ford, market share for September was 44.9%. For the year to date, market share is 42.1%, representing a 1.3% increase over the same period last year.
Land Rover, Suzuki and
Nissan
Land
Rover had the greatest percentage gain in September, up 44.8% over last
year, thanks to the introduction of the LR3 and Range Rover Sport. The
two new utes were the company’s best selling models, aiding Land
Rover
to a 31.9% increase for the year to date.
Suzuki is benefiting from the much heralded, newfound interest in small cars -- sales were up 41.4% for the month, thanks to a 127.6% increase in the Forenza/Reno platform. For the year, Suzuki is up 10.7%
Of the three largest International companies, Nissan had the greatest monthly increase [16.4%] and also has the largest year to date increase [15%]. The Sentra and Altima cars continue to delight sales managers, with gains of 65.8% and 24.2% respectively. And bucking the trend against SUVs, the Pathfinder continues to have a banner year, with sales up 134.7% for the month and 169% for the year.
On the Infiniti side of the business, the new M35/M45 model was almost solely responsible for the car division’s 17.6% increase.
Honda and
Toyota
Honda’s
11.7% sales increase in September can be pegged to the increased
fortunes of the Civic and Accord models, whose sales have been lagging
all year. The Civic posted a 36.9% monthly increase, the Accord, 11.7%.
Despite this good news, sales of the company’s two most popular
models
are still down 3% and 1.8% respectively for the year to date.
Other good news for Honda came from the Odyssey, whose 29.6% increase
offset drops from the Pilot and CR-V. The Acura division had a mixed
performance, up 2.2%, with losses from the MDX and RSX offset by the
still outstanding sales of the new RL. Overall, Honda’s sales are now
up 5.9% for the year.
Toyota, up 10.3% for the month, also saw its gains come mostly from cars. Toyota brand car sales were up 22.9% for the month, and while the Prius, Corolla and Scion models all did well, the big surprise comes from the full-size Avalon sedan. With sales of 8,707 vehicles -- an increase of 270.8% over last September -- the Avalon was singlehandedly responsible for more than one-third of Toyota’s car sales increase. The Prius, with sales up 90.1% for the month, continues to be the best selling hybrid vehicle in America. Overall, Toyota’s sales are up 10.8% for the year.
Hyundai and
Mazda
The
Accent and Elantra models helped Hyundai to a 9.1% increase for the
month; the company is enjoying a similar 9.6% sales increase for the
year to date. While sales of the Alabama-built Sonata were up 3.1% for
the month, the model is getting off to a slower start than company
officials might have hoped.
The Mazda3, with an assist from the Miata, boosted Mazda’s sales 5.4% for the month. With 8,435 units sold, the Mazda3 is far and away the company’s best selling model -- the Mazda6 sold 4,307 units in September. Mazda’s sales are down 1.1% for the year to date.
Kia and
Subaru
Sales of
four of Kia’s six models were down in September, but the two that
were
up -- the Rio and Spectra -- were more than enough to lift the
company’s sales up 1.8% for the month. The Spectra was up 55.2%, the
Rio, 21.6%. For the year to date, Kia’s sales are up 6.2%.
Similar arithmetic rules Suabaru’s fortunes -- sales of the new B9 Tribeca offset drops in the company’s four other models, to an overall 1.6% sales gain for the month. The Tribeca has sold 7,845 units to date; Subaru is up 5.1% for the year.
VW and Audi, BMW and
MINI, Mercedes
Audi’s
sales were up 2.8% for the month, thanks to 700 unit sales of the newly
introduced A3. The Volkswagen brand was up 0.6%, thanks to a welcome
46.6% increase in sales of the new Jetta sedan. The Beetle convertible
also contributed to the uptick, with a 39.4% increase. Overall, VW
brand is down 17% for the year, Audi brand is up 0.9%.
BMW brand sales posted a
1.3% increase for the month, thanks to increase from the 3 series and 6
series. The 3 series convertible was up 33.8%, the 3 series sedan, up
16.6%. On the light truck side, the X5 also bucked the anti-SUV trned
with a 70.3% increase. For the year to date, BMW brand is up
1.2%
MINI
sales were up 3.8%, which is off the brand’s year to date increase of
24.7%. In a switch from recent months, sales of the hard top MINIs were
up [6.8%], while convertible sales were down [3.7%]
Mercedes was up 0.7% for the month, and remains down 0.7% for the year. The new R-Class sold 386 units in its first [partial] month on the market, while the M-Class sold 2,727, for an increase of 21.3%. Sales of the C-Class sedan also picked up, to 5,011 units in September, for a 13.9% increase.
Mitsubishi, Porsche,
Volvo
Thanks
to the Eclipse, sales of Mitsubishi cars were up 3.2% for September.
Overall, sales were down 2.5% due to drops in the Montero and Outlander
SUVs, but there was also some good news with the Endeavor, which posted
a 29.2% sales increase. Mitsubishi also managed to post 41 unit sales
of the new Raider pickup in the last few days of the month. For the
year Mitsubishi is down 27.7%, but with a sales increase last month and
a narrow loss this month, fortunes are looking up.
With a 177.7% sales increase, the Porsche Boxster helped stave off a deep sales drop due to the 25.7% drop in Cavenne SUV sales, which were leading the company not too long ago. For the month, Porsche was down 9%, for the year to date, sales are up 2.1%.
While sales of the Volvo S40 and S60 were up, those increases were not enough to stave off drops in the company’s XC90 SUV and XC70 wagon. For the month Volvo was down 9.7%; for the year to date sales are down 6.4%
Saab, Jaguar
Isuzu
Saab’s
sales are up 11.2% for the year to date, thanks to a June sales bump
from parent company GM’s employee discount promotion. Sales for the
month, however, were down 36.1%
Jaguar was down 41.8% for the month and is now negative 31.7% for the year.
Isuzu sold 656 units in September, for a 71.1% sales drop. Sales are down 55.2% for the year.
