That chill in the air is no fluke, we're already well on our way to winter. Before we get to that most joyous of frozen seasons, we must get through fall. This time of year always brings beautiful colours as the foliage begins to turn from green to bright and deep reds, crisp sunny yellows and warm shades of orange.
For many manufacturers, their colours have not, and most likely will not, change over. Being in the red has been a constant for a few car makers, and the near future seems to hold no respite. Honda is one such manufacturer that has been dealing with losses after many a bad month of sales. Posting a 22.4% dip in sales compared to the same period last year, Honda is in a sad state of affairs.
However seemingly tragic things might be at Honda, it's Suzuki that's really feeling the crunch. At a drop of 49.6% in unit sale numbers, they are the pessimal performing maker from last month. With constant, massive month-over-month sales drops, we wonder how much longer this giant of small cars will last on our market.
Third place, in our worst-of-the-worst compilation, goes to Nissan with a loss of 18.3% in sales. They were boasting – if you recall – that they were not affected or as touched by the Tsunami. These results do not bode well for the Japanese automaker. Mazda has also been having a hard time convincing consumers to buy their products as their numbers have dropped by 15.1%
Someone once said, “build it and they will come,” and that's exactly what Volkswagen has done. With their latest offerings including the Jetta and Passat, VW has taken the top spot in gains with an impressive growth of 41.3% YOY. Equally impressive are Kia's numbers. Their increase of 34.6% for the month of September 2011, compared to the same period last year, clearly demonstrates that product – and a desirable one – is the single most important element tied to success. In third position walks in Audi with 26.5% in delivery increases, closely followed by Mitsubishi at 26.2%.
If anything, we can say that the Germans have it. Remember, all those pretty Kias in showrooms and on the road were designed by a German. As for Mitsubishi, we're a little baffled, but we assume that the hype surrounding the i-MiEV and amazing incentives did the trick. Either that or someone found the keys to the showroom...
Source : Desrosiers Automotive Report
For many manufacturers, their colours have not, and most likely will not, change over. Being in the red has been a constant for a few car makers, and the near future seems to hold no respite. Honda is one such manufacturer that has been dealing with losses after many a bad month of sales. Posting a 22.4% dip in sales compared to the same period last year, Honda is in a sad state of affairs.
However seemingly tragic things might be at Honda, it's Suzuki that's really feeling the crunch. At a drop of 49.6% in unit sale numbers, they are the pessimal performing maker from last month. With constant, massive month-over-month sales drops, we wonder how much longer this giant of small cars will last on our market.
Third place, in our worst-of-the-worst compilation, goes to Nissan with a loss of 18.3% in sales. They were boasting – if you recall – that they were not affected or as touched by the Tsunami. These results do not bode well for the Japanese automaker. Mazda has also been having a hard time convincing consumers to buy their products as their numbers have dropped by 15.1%
Someone once said, “build it and they will come,” and that's exactly what Volkswagen has done. With their latest offerings including the Jetta and Passat, VW has taken the top spot in gains with an impressive growth of 41.3% YOY. Equally impressive are Kia's numbers. Their increase of 34.6% for the month of September 2011, compared to the same period last year, clearly demonstrates that product – and a desirable one – is the single most important element tied to success. In third position walks in Audi with 26.5% in delivery increases, closely followed by Mitsubishi at 26.2%.
If anything, we can say that the Germans have it. Remember, all those pretty Kias in showrooms and on the road were designed by a German. As for Mitsubishi, we're a little baffled, but we assume that the hype surrounding the i-MiEV and amazing incentives did the trick. Either that or someone found the keys to the showroom...
| September | Current Month | YTD | ||||
| 2011 | 2010 | 11/10 | 2011 | 2010 | 11/10 | |
| Acura | 1641 | 1460 | 12.4% | 10710 | 12390 | -13.6% |
| Audi | 1658 | 1311 | 26.5% | 13313 | 11311 | 17.7% |
| BMW | 2824 | 2602 | 8.5% | 22124 | 20015 | 10.5% |
| Chrysler | 19135 | 16039 | 19.3% | 182026 | 159479 | 14.1% |
| Ford | 25648 | 26450 | -3.0% | 219208 | 210370 | 4.2% |
| General Motors | 16799 | 17885 | -6.1% | 187040 | 188461 | -0.8% |
| Honda | 9468 | 12202 | -22.4% | 77453 | 92072 | -15.9% |
| Hyundai | 11110 | 10406 | 6.8% | 104091 | 95526 | 9.0% |
| Infiniti | 727 | 750 | -3.1% | 5194 | 6246 | -16.8% |
| Jaguar | 60 | 70 | -14.3% | 591 | 616 | -4.1% |
| Kia | 6388 | 4745 | 34.6% | 51670 | 42333 | 22.1% |
| Land Rover | 236 | 233 | 1.3% | 2085 | 1894 | 10.1% |
| Lexus | 1241 | 1305 | -4.9% | 9875 | 11134 | -11.3% |
| Mazda | 5839 | 6881 | -15.1% | 53772 | 62494 | -14.0% |
| Mercedes-Benz | 2555 | 2458 | 3.9% | 22598 | 21711 | 4.1% |
| MINI | 465 | 451 | 3.1% | 3770 | 3334 | 13.1% |
| Mitsubishi | 1733 | 1373 | 26.2% | 15414 | 14166 | 8.8% |
| Nissan | 6371 | 7798 | -18.3% | 60426 | 59018 | 2.4% |
| Porsche | 167 | 166 | 0.6% | 1938 | 1520 | 27.5% |
| Saab | 6 | - | n.a. | 138 | - | n.a. |
| smart | 152 | 143 | 6.3% | 1445 | 1615 | -10.5% |
| Subaru | 2209 | 2447 | -9.7% | 20165 | 20459 | -1.4% |
| Suzuki | 429 | 852 | -49.6% | 4180 | 7133 | -41.4% |
| Toyota | 12567 | 13258 | -5.2% | 109136 | 124445 | -12.3% |
| Volkswagen | 4630 | 3276 | 41.3% | 40396 | 33411 | 20.9% |
| Volvo | 486 | 537 | -9.5% | 5391 | 5172 | 4.2% |
| Light Vehicle Sales | 134544 | 135098 | -0.4% | 1224149 | 1206325 | 1.5% |
| Passenger Car | 57136 | 59331 | -3.7% | 543928 | 554157 | -1.8% |
| Light Truck | 77408 | 75767 | 2.2% | 680221 | 652168 | 4.3% |
| GM/Ford/Chrysler Nameplates | 61582 | 60374 | 2.0% | 588274 | 558310 | 5.4% |
| Import Nameplates | 72962 | 74724 | -2.4% | 635875 | 648015 | -1.9% |
| Sales History | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 11/10 |
| January | 91.2 | 102.8 | 76.9 | 81.6 | 84.5 | 3.6% |
| February | 97.0 | 111.0 | 80.2 | 100.2 | 96.0 | -4.2% |
| March | 150.7 | 150.0 | 127.5 | 145.4 | 153.5 | 5.5% |
| April | 169.0 | 175.2 | 143.9 | 149.7 | 159.9 | 6.9% |
| May | 185.5 | 184.5 | 154.0 | 154.3 | 149.0 | -3.8% |
| June | 169.2 | 159.5 | 138.5 | 154.6 | 164.8 | 6.6% |
| July | 142.4 | 149.5 | 139.9 | 148.8 | 141.5 | -4.9% |
| August | 158.4 | 147.0 | 135.4 | 136.1 | 140.4 | 3.2% |
| September | 131.8 | 134.1 | 129.5 | 135.1 | 134.5 | -0.4% |
| October | 120.9 | 122.7 | 121.5 | 123.2 | ||
| November | 117.3 | 105.2 | 102.1 | 116.0 | ||
| December | 119.9 | 94.4 | 111.2 | 111.0 | ||
| Full Year | 1653.4 | 1636.0 | 1460.6 | 1557.1 | ||
| Note: Sales figures above are in thousands. | ||||||