Thread: Chrysler May sales jump 30%, Ford up 14%, GM up 11%

Jun 01, 2012

Chrysler May sales jump 30%, Ford up 14%, GM up 11%

By Fred Meier, USA TODAY Updated 5h 39m ago

Chrysler says its U.S. sales in May jumped 30% -- about the predicted industry gain as Japanese makers rebound -- but Ford reported a 13% sales gain that lags that industry estimate. Ford likely will lose market share as a result and barely held onto No. 2 in the U.S. over recovering Toyota.

More May sales in Drive On:

Asian makers: Nissan up 21%, Hyundai 13%, Toyota and Honda expected much higher

European makers: VW posts strong gain, though Jetta slows.

Shoppers not only buying more cars, they're spending more too.

Chrysler: It marked a 12th consecutive month of sales gains of more than 20% for the company, which has gained about two percentage points in U.S. market share to nearly 11%. Total sales were 150,041.

And it comes as Chrysler prepares later this month to roll out its key new car introduction for the year, the Fiat-based Dodge Dart, above, that it aims to get the company back into the small-car game. Dart is an enlarged, Americanized version of Fiat's sporty Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

All the company's brands -- Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and Fiat -- posted year-over-year gains in May. Fiat was up most, 128% to a record month as the tiny 500 finally gains some traction.

But the Chrysler brand was heroic -- up 81%, as the 200 sedan zoomed 87% and the big 300 rocketed 140% for its best May since 2007.

Jeep brand was up 24%, lead by Wrangler's 44% gain over last May.

Dodge brand was up 14% and Ram Truck -- which has a refreshed pickup coming this summer -- rose 29%.

The 2012 Ford F-150 SVT -- F-series pickup sales boomed for Ford in May.

Ford: Trucks led Ford's sales report, with the highlight being a 29% gain for its F-series trucks -- the best-selling vehicle in the U.S.Overall, cars were up 6%, utilities were up 12% and trucks improved 21%. Total sales were 216,267.

The gain for the outgoing Fusion was a more modest 9% (a redesigned 2013 is on the way) and the Explorer was up just 10%, though the unit total was the best month ever for the redone crossover SUV that came out in 2010. Mustang was up 58%, while Focus sales rose 11%.

Lincoln continued to be a drag, with sales of 7,274 vehicles, down 1.7% from a year ago.

Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs surveyed the tally and said, "One thing that really caught my attention about Ford is that the brand's fleet sales are up to 35%. Another interesting sign: Ford bumped up its incentives in May, despite previous insistence on holding out for price.

"The Fiesta still can't gain its footing and seems to be losing to the Focus. Ford is doing a tricky dance of selling down two of its very high volume models -- the Escape and Fusion -- to make way for the new models."

General Motors: GM sold 10.9% more car and trucks in May than it did a year ago as Chevrolet, Buick and GMC brands all showed improvement.

Cadillac tumbled, a slide it hopes to reverse after launching the XTS -- a new, big Caddy -- this month and the small ATS sedan soon. The only Cadillac showing improved sales in May was the Escalade ESV, a big, truck-based, 403-hp SUV similar to the Chevrolet Suburban.

GM said sales of small and compact cars were up 16%,though the Chevrolet Cruze compact slipped 13.6%. Cruze Eco has been a poster car for mpg fans, boasting a government rating of up to 42 mpg on the highway -- close to hybrid or diesel territory from a conventional gasoline-engine car.

Sales of crossover SUVs rose 14%.

Big pickups went out the door 23% faster than they did a year ago, but GM still has 116-day supply, nearly twice what's considered normal. Redesigned pickups are coming next year, though GM won't say when, and the car company insists there'll be no production lag because it's retooling factories on the fly to make the new models.

The logic of having so many about-to-be old pickups as GM prepares to introduce new ones has mystified some Wall Street analysts.

May sales of 245,256 new vehicles was the best in nearly three years, the automaker said.

Chrysler May sales jump 30%, Ford up 14%, GM up 11%

Apparently it is not all that rosy. The following is from the Chicago Press:

The annual selling rate in May finished at 13.8 million vehicles, the first month this year under the 14 million pace and far short of the 14.5 million expected by economists polled by Reuters.




The sales results, when combined with Friday's anemic U.S. jobs report, suggested the industry could face hurdles in its recovery from a recession four years ago that dragged General Motors and Chrysler into bankruptcy. Among the automakers posting disappointing results on Friday were GM, Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> and Chrysler.

May auto sales disappoint - Chicago Tribune