[Asifgrkhan]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

I am quite surprised at the sale numbers of Fiat Chrysler. It is ahead of Honda & Nissan, but none of its models make it to the Top 16 popular cars.

Also checked their website and saw that their offerings are limited to 3 models
Chrysler 200
Chrysler 300
Chrysler Town & Country

Maybe I am referring to the wrong site. (http://www.chrysler.com/en/lineup/)

How is this possible to not have any model in the Top 16 popular cars and still be ahead of Honda & Nissan. Honda has 3 models in the top 16 and Nissan has 2. In fact, Chrysler is behind Toyota just by a small margin of 8.5k cars (small , Bottom 5 Indian manufacturers do not sell 8k in a month)

PS 1: Chrysler 300 so damn good looking. PLease DO NOT bring this to India - we do not buy gasoline in Gallons !
PS 2: For an Indian in the US, he wouldn't even need to look at the bhp & torque numbers. I do not think any Sedan would be less than 150 bhp.

In the US, FCA sells the below brands.
1. Chrysler
2. Dodge
3. Ram
4. Jeep
5. Fiat
6. Maserati
7. Alfa Romeo

Out of these the volume brands are Dodge and Ram for passenger cars/SUVs and Pick Up Trucks respectively. Dodge sells the Charger, Challenger, Dart, Grand Caravan (janta version of Chrysler T&C) while Ram sells Rams.
Jeep is also quite a mass market brand with the Wrangler, Cherokee, GC selling gangbusters.

The Italians are very niche and probably sell similar numbers as what Fiat sells in India. I kid, I kid - no one can survive selling similar numbers but the three Italians combined probably sell under 5000 units per month.

[autonarr]

One wonders what the Chinese market breakup is: the USA has been overtaken by them as the world's biggest car market IIRC.

[srishiva]

about F-series, its the complete series or is it just F-150?
Its like our Bolero which has many variants, F-series has too many variants. F-150 is still the highest seller though.

[akshatmangal]

hello guys, very interesting thread and of course USA numbers are mind boggling.
Regarding conditions in India, i have a very different take from few fellow friends. I agree we lack infrastructure, but the bigger problem is lack of discipline in driving.
We are almost habitual to cross signals when it just turns red and then the other guys get delayed and they also do same thing and it just leads to chaos.
Or say we love cutting lanes, we see slight space and there to go slowing other vehicles, or the lot of time 3 lanes have 3 trucks trying to outdo each other at snail pace. these small things keep adding to traffic problems making things way more chaotic then what it should be.

[Simhi]

With Toyota and Honda launching most of their latest cars first in Indonesia, was keen to find out the sales figure in Indonesia and got the following link after some googling

http://www.marklines.com/en/statisti...indonesia_2015

Some interesting figures
1. Total Sales in month of Oct'15 - 88609. Less than half of Indian Market.

2. Top 5 manufacturer for month of Oct'15

Toyota (excludes Lexus) - 29,828
Honda - 14,609
Daihatsu - 13,999
Mitsubishi - 9,835
Suzuki - 9,405

3. Toyota (33.7%) and Honda (15.8%) corner 50% of the market

4. Hyundai is not there even in Top 10.

Top 3 selling vehicles from http://bestsellingcarsblog.com/category/indonesia/

1. Toyota Avanza - 15080
2. Daihatsu Gran Max Pikap - 4900
3. Honda Mobilio - Not available

[Rajeevraj]

Update on the November US Sales.

• U.S. new-car sales in November continued to run at a blistering pace, putting the auto industry on track to challenge the 17.35 million sales peak reached in 2000.
  
  
• November Sales were at ~1.3 Million units
  
  
• The tally brings the industry this year to 15.82 million vehicles through November.
  
  
• A spate of Black Friday deals coupled with cheap gasoline and low financing costs helped auto makers overall deliver a 1.4% increase over the same month last year, offsetting what historically is a sluggish sales month.
  
  
• With Gasoline prices falling, the bigger vehicles (classified as light trucks) are seeing a surge in sales. 59% of the Monthly Sales was from this category. With similar fuel economy, more interior room and a higher stance than cars, crossover SUVs are gaining appeal among Americans shopping for a new ride across the wide range of brands. Some of the models reaping these benefits were:
  
  
  • Nissan. The Rogue crossover became the automaker's most popular vehicle in November. The Rogue surged 45% in November to 22,565 units, outpacing the typically steady Altima sedan, which fell 10% to 20,564.
    
    
  • Toyota. RAV4 compact crossover roared 30% to 27,368 units. That made the RAV4 the automaker's No. 2 most popular vehicle in November, behind only the Camry sedan but ahead of the traditionally dependable Corolla compact, which was down 6%.
    
    
  • General Motors. The new Chevrolet Trax subcompact crossover flourished, with sales of 6,481 units in its first month in U.S. dealerships — better than any single Cadillac or Buick vehicle, by comparison
  .
  
  
• VW is getting crushed. The Volkswagen Brand sales fell 25% while the overall VW group sales fell 16%. VW attributed it to the fact that the sales of diesel cars have been halted.

Sources:

• USAToday
• NYTimes

[JohnyBoy]

Originally Posted by arjab

It's not only that. Probably in reality the difference in market size is even greater.
All mature markets, EU, US etc report ACTUAL monthly REGISTRATIONS; i.e. vehicles rolling off the showroom floor into the garages of customers. I think even China quotes actual vehicle registrations.

Whereas in our country, monthly sales are quoted as despatches, popularly known as "dealer offtake" - i.e. factory to dealer. And OEM market share is calculated on this hallowed "offtake" figure.

In India we still do not get actual registration data "officially" through any of the statutory industry bodies such as SIAM, Ministry of Transport etc.

If you factor this in, the gap will be even larger! A rough estimate, says around 75-80% of "offtake vehicles" are actually retailed by dealers in India. This figure varies obviously on the popularity of a particular model, the City/Town, Number of dealers the OEM has etc.

So, we still have a long way to go before we even become visible in the rear view mirror of US vehicle sales, drawing parallel and overtaking comes much later!

How does the use of use 'actual registrations' or 'despatch to dealers' matter? As long as it is used consistently.
I mean your point is despatch to dealer may be a higher figure than actual retail sales. It's not. If you consider one particular month, it may be different. For example, in October there could have been 500 despatches to dealers and 400 actual sales. Assuming same no of actual sales (for simplicity) the despatch to dealers will be 400 for Nov rt? The dealers will 'refill' whatever is actually sold, not the maximum no every month.
If we consider any particular month, the two figures can vary, but over months, on a rolling fashion, this will even out. It doesn't matter which parameter is used for the figures, as long as it is consistent.

Isn't it like this or am I missing something here?

[Technocrat]

U.S. auto sales break record in 2015

The U.S. auto industry set a sales record in 2015 as solid December gains by the biggest automakers pushed the annual tally above the 17,402,486 mark set in 2000.

Automakers chalked up 17,470,659 light-vehicle sales last year, an increase of 5.7 percent over 2014, according to the Automotive News Data Center. The December increase of 8.9 percent was one of the year’s strongest, while the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate came in at 17.3 million, the lowest since June.

Source

Sales Data

Americans Bought A Record 17.47 Million Cars In 2015

We bought so many cars, you guys. We bought like, more cars than we have ever bought before. Millions and millions of them! As Automotive News reports, we bought no fewer than 17,470,659 cars and trucks, beating out our previous record in the year 2000.

We only mustered 17,402,486 vehicles back then. Shameful.

This is also nearly a million more cars than we bought last year. In 2014, we only managed a pitiful 16.52 million car purchases.

Congrats, America, we are 5.7 percent better consumers than we were a year ago.

At the heart of the boom was leasing, which is at a record 29 percent of new car sales.

Source

Here are some interesting Stats from Sales Data

Group Level

Biggest Gain YoY - JLR Group which sold 26.5% more compared to 2014.

Least Gain YoY- VW Group which sold just 0.4% more compared to 2014

Most Cars Sold - It was GM which moved 3,082,366 vehicles in 2015 from their showrooms

Least Cars Sold - JLR sold just 85,048 vehicles which was 26.5% higher than last year which was just 5.0% more than 2014

Company level

Biggest Gain YoY - Alpha Romeo sold a whopping 628.7% more cars compared to 2014, before anyone gets excited they sold 663 cars in 2015.

Least Gain YoY- BMW which sold just 1.9% more compared to 2014

Biggest Loser YoY - SMART USA whose sales dipped by 28.4% compared to 2014

Most Cars Sold - Ford sold 2,501,855 vehicles in 2015.

Least Cars Sold - Alpha Romeo sold just 663 vehicles which was interestingly 628.6% higher than last year.

I want to make a special mention for Tesla as it sold 22,800 vehicles which was 26.7% more than it did in 2014, this is promising as it encourages more companies to make high quality electric cars.

[The Rationalist]

For Ford, GM , Honda and the German trio the Indian sales equals 15 days sales figures in USA at the most. Can't imagine the enormity of the market, hope we never reach such figures. No wonder these car makers don't spend too much of their energy on our market. Is there any way to find out the average years a car is used before it ends up in a scrapyard?

[libranof1987]

Mind-boggling figures, eh!

Toyota and Nissan (rightly so) have done majority of the heavy lifting; slightly surprised about Hyundai and Honda; not as drastic a gain as Toyota and Nissan.

Dirt cheap fuel and a vastly improved economy have clearly done their bit!

Originally Posted by The Rationalist

Is there any way to find out the average years a car is used before it ends up in a scrapyard?

Just my observation: unless a car is considered a total loss (which is very likely in case of even a minor accident, since the cost of labor is enormous), Americans do hold on to old vehicles; especially as you move away from the metros. You'll be surprised how many 15-20yr old Chevy's (mostly trucks, not cars), Honda's and Toyota's are still running. America, outside the glistening metros, is a fairly lower middle class country.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

I want to make a special mention for Tesla as it sold 22,800 vehicles which was 26.7% more than it did in 2014, this is promising as it encourages more companies to make high quality electric cars.

The recently showcased Chevy Bolt is going to put some pressure on Tesla.

By the way, for all its glitz, Tesla loses money on every car it sells

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-te...0QE0DC20150810

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Dirt cheap fuel and a vastly improved economy have clearly done their bit!

Not for the SMART car though

[GTO]

A very nicely presented summary of USA Car Sales, 2016 - Full AutoNews Article.

U.S. light-vehicle sales hit a new high of 17,539,052 in 2016. That's a mere 0.3 percent ahead of 2015, but a record is a record. The industry has chalked up seven straight annual sales increases, which is a streak of success (kept alive by a strong December) that the U.S. auto industry has not seen in a century.

[volkman10]

Japanese dominate the July sales in the PV segment.

[sarathlal]

Honda rolled out its 25 millionth automobile in the United States, a 2018 Accord produced at the Marysville Auto Plant in Ohio.

Beginning production in 1982, the plant made Honda the first Japanese automaker to produce cars in the U.S. and is one of five Honda auto plants now operating in the United States.

To celebrate the production milestone, Honda has initiated an annual scholarship fund for students pursuing educations in the fields of engineering, supply chain and manufacturing at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The initial donation of $25,000 will be administered through the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF). In addition to the financial support, scholarship recipients will be invited to interview for internships and co-op positions at Honda operations.



Source: Honda

[Joxster]

Sales rise 6.4% as spring season starts with a bang. FCA snaps skid; GM, VW Group also post double-digit gains.

U.S. light-vehicle deliveries, behind higher discounts and fleet shipments, a surge in light-truck demand and an extra weekend of sales, rose 6.4 percent in March, topping expectations as the critical spring-selling season started off with a bang.

It is the industry's largest year-over-year increase since monthly volume rose 7 percent in Feb. 2016.

The March tally marked the auto industry's second gain of the year – a contrast to 2017, when the first monthly increase arrived in September.

The seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate came in at 17.49 million, well above most analysts’ forecasts, and the seventh straight month the pace of sales has topped 17 million units. Analysts polled by Bloomberg expected the March SAAR to be 16.8 million, down from a pace of 17.12 million in February and March 2017’s 16.82 million rate.

Overall, U.S. light-vehicle sales are now up 2 percent this year through March.

“Consumers are keeping the U.S. economy growing and auto sales very healthy,” said Mustafa Mohatarem, GM’s chief economist. “The job market is strong, consumer confidence is at decade-high levels and we see clear evidence that business owners are taking advantage of tax reform to upgrade their fleets.”

U.S. light-truck sales jumped 16 percent last month and rose 9.5 percent in the first quarter, while car demand slumped 8.9 percent in March and is off 11 percent in the first three months of the year.

Among major automakers, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Volkswagen Group set the pace with double-digit sales gains in March.

FCA, behind a 45 percent surge in Jeep deliveries, snapped an 18-month string of U.S. sales declines. FCA’s 14 percent jump marked its first monthly advance since August 2016.

March sales rose 16 percent at General Motors, with each of the company's four brands posting double-digit increases. Honda Motor Co. advanced 3.8 percent. Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. were each up 3.5 percent while Nissan Motor Co. and Hyundai-Kia volume dropped.

Company by company:

In addition to strong Jeep sales that totaled nearly 100,000 units, Fiat Chrysler volume rose 15 percent at the Chrysler brand and 364 percent at Alfa Romeo, while sales slipped 13 percent at Ram, 1.8 percent at Dodge and 47 percent at Fiat.

Retail volume rose 11 percent to 162,304 vehicles, FCA said, with fleet accounting for 25 percent of deliveries last month.

At GM, sales rose 16 percent at Chevrolet, 11 percent at GMC, 28 percent at Buick and 13 percent at Cadillac. GM said retail deliveries rose 14 percent. The March figures will be GM’s last sales report until July, following an announcement earlier Tuesday that it will now be reporting U.S. deliveries on a quarterly basis instead of monthly.

Ford’s 3.5 percent advance -- its first of the year -- came on the strength of a 3.7 percent increase at the Ford division, as well as strong light-truck deliveries. Volume slipped 2.1 percent at Lincoln.

Toyota's March sales rose behind another strong month for truck sales, offsetting weak car shipments. Volume rose 4.5 percent at the Toyota division but slipped 3.2 percent at Lexus.

At Nissan Motor Co., volume slipped 3.7 percent, with sales off 3.6 percent at Nissan and 4.6 percent at Infiniti.

Honda Motor said volume rose 2.6 percent at the Honda brand and 16 percent at Acura, with overall light-truck shipments rising 7 percent and car demand up 0.4 percent.

Strong demand for new and redesigned crossovers helped the Volkswagen brand chalk up an 18 percent gain in March volume. Sales rose 22 percent at Mitsubishi, 2.5 percent at Kia, 5.9 percent at Subaru and 36 percent at Mazda but dropped 11 percent at the Hyundai brand and 9.1 percent at Mini.

Among other luxury brands, volume rose 54 percent at Volvo, 6.2 percent at Porsche, 1 percent at BMW, 38 percent at Land Rover and 7.4 percent at Audi but deliveries dropped 34 percent at Jaguar.

Sales drivers

Sales continue to be driven by high incentives and demand for light trucks, notably crossovers, while car volumes remain weak and automakers shy away from deliveries to fleets. Moderate gasoline prices as well as steady job gains are supporting industry sales, automakers and analysts say, even as an era of cheap credit wanes.

“Interest rates are rising as expected and we are looking for a total of four rate hikes in 2018, a headwind making borrowing more expensive and raising monthly payments,” said Jeff Schuster, head of forecasting at LMC Automotive.

Edmunds said average interest rates on new vehicle loans hit their highest level since 2009 in March, marking the second straight month of sharp rate increases. The annual percentage rate on new financed vehicles averaged 5.7 percent in March — compared to an average of 5.2 percent in February and 5 percent in January.

The shift to crossovers, SUVs and pickups continues to propel average new transaction prices higher.

Kelley Blue Book estimates the average transaction price for a new light vehicle in the United States was $35,285 in March. That’s up 2 percent, or $703, from March 2017 but $23 lower than February.

The U.S. new-vehicle market, after seven straight annual gains capped by a record 2016, dropped 1.8 percent to 17.245 million units last year. Overall, U.S. sales are forecast to drop below 17 million for the first time in three years, with most 2018 estimates from analysts ranging from 16.7 million to 16.9 million units.

Source

Cheers