US Auto Sales Scorecard August 2016
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Washington DC September 2, 2016; The AIADA reported that last month, the auto market took a breather from its fast pace through the first half of 2016. However, while many of the largest international brands, like Honda (down 3.5 percent) and Toyota (down 4.6 percent), saw sales slip in August, not all reports were bad. Hyundai saw no sales change from a year ago and others, like Subaru (up 14.7 percent), saw improvements. Pickups and crossovers accounted for 60.3 percent of all sales last month, up 2.5 percent from August 2016, while passenger car sales were down 12.6 percent from a year ago to 39.7 percent of all sales.
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Internationals Maintain Lead in U.S. Market
Although it dipped slightly to 55.9 percent—down from 56.4 percent in July, but up from 55.3 percent last August—international brands still occupied a majority share of the U.S. auto market. Overall, they sold 845,229 vehicles, down from 858,541 last month and 872,838 a year ago.
Asian brand market share saw a slight downturn from July, as the brands sold 707,460 vehicles and occupied 46.8 percent of the market. Last month, they sold 722,377 vehicles and occupied 47.5 percent of the market. In August 2015, Asian brands sold 735,056 vehicles and occupied 46.6 percent of the market. Sales totals for the month included 248,469 cars and 241,852 trucks sourced from Asian brands’ North American production facilities.
European brand market share improved to 9.1 percent in August, with sales of 137,769 units. Last month, they sold 136,164 vehicles and occupied 8.9 percent of the market. August sales figures are also virtually level from last August when they held 8.7 percent of the market and sold 137,782 vehicles. European-brand sales figures included 21,896 cars and 17,020 trucks sourced from North American production facilities.
Domestic brands finished August with a 44.1 percent market share and sales of 667,327 vehicles. Overall sales were down from 704,569 and 44.7 percent market share held last August.
Internationals Dominate August Top Ten List
International nameplate vehicles once again represented seven of the top ten selling vehicles for the month. The Honda CR-V was the most popular international model of the month—occupying the fourth place spot behind the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado, and Ram pickups. Sales for Honda’s compact SUV were up 5 percent over last year. With SUV demand continuing to rise, the Toyota RAV4 logged a fifth place finish for the month, with sales up 8.6 percent, while the Nissan Rogue finished the month in sixth place with sales up 19.2 percent.
Behind trucks and SUVs, the Toyota Camry took the seventh spot for the month. Sales for America’s most popular car reflected Americans’ lagging demand for cars in August; sales for the model were down 12.6 percent. The Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, and Honda Accord finished the month in eighth, ninth, and tenth place, respectivelly.
North American Manufacturing Remains Strong
International brands continue to leverage their North American manufacturing facilities—many of which are located in the U.S.—to supply vehicles for the U.S. market. In August, they sourced 529,237 vehicles from these plants, including 270,365 cars (45 percent of all cars sold) and 258,872 trucks (28.4 percent of all trucks sold).
Outlook
AutoData Corp. reports that the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) in August was 17 million units versus 17.79 million units a year ago and 17.88 in July 2016. Industrywide, 1,512,556 light vehicles were sold in August, compared to 1,522,297 in July. Unadjusted for business days, sales for all brands were down 4.1 percent from August 2015 and up 0.6 percent year-to-date. International brands narrowly outperformed the market as a whole last month, down just 3.2 percent from July 2015 and up 0.7 percent for the year.
