Driven to change

March small car sales up; SUV, truck sales down

Posted by Joseph Romm (Guest Contributor) at 11:20 AM on 26 Apr 2008

Read more about: cars | Big Auto | business | green living | fuel efficiency

Is $3.25 to $3.50 a gallon the long-awaited for inflexion point for driving a shift in U.S. car-buying habits? Obviously we can't know for sure, but the Detroit News reported that "cars outsold light trucks" in March. (One auto industry insider told me yesterday that this was only the second time that has ever happened in some two decades.)

Yes, the recession no doubt had an impact on the sales of big, expensive vehicles. But since gasoline prices are going to mostly be going up over the next decade or two, possibly to well above $4 or even $5 a gallon (see "Peak Oil? Bring it on!"), this should be (yet one more) wake-up call to Detroit.

What exactly happened in March? According to a cars.com blog:

In March, small cars like the Ford Focus -- up 24 percent -- and Honda Fit -- up 73.8 percent -- were bright spots almost universally among automakers. Hybrid sales were also up. On the other end of the spectrum, trucks like the Ford F-Series -- down 23.8 percent -- and Dodge Ram -- down 31 percent -- saw huge losses, as did truck-based SUVs.

Here are their numbers for March 2008 sales performance for a spectrum of cars, trucks, SUVs, and hybrids:

Cars

Chevy Cobalt: Down 23.8 percent
Dodge Caliber: Up 10 percent
Ford Focus: Up 24 percent
Honda Civic: Up 18.3 percent
Honda Fit: Up 73.8 percent
Hyundai Elantra: Up 11.1 percent
Kia Spectra: Up 41.3 percent
Mitsubishi Lancer: Up 32.7 percent
Nissan Sentra: Up 21.4 percent
Nissan Versa: Up 34.2 percent
Toyota Corolla: Down 21.3 percent (mainly due to the changeover to the 2009 model)
Toyota Yaris: Up 83.2 percent
VW Jetta: Up 19.7 percent

Hybrids

Honda Civic Hybrid: Up 44.3 percent
Toyota Prius: Up 16 percent

Trucks and SUVs

BMW X5: Down 41.9 percent
Chevy Silverado: Down 23.5 percent
Chevy Tahoe: Down 34.2 percent
Dodge Durango: Down 38 percent
Ford Explorer: Down 14.8 percent
Ford F-Series: Down 23.8 percent
Honda Pilot: Down 23.6 percent
Hummer H3: Down 32.6 percent
Lexus LX 570: Up 156.1 percent
Nissan Titan: Down 44.9 percent
Toyota Sequoia: Up 19.8 percent
Toyota Tundra: Up 16.8 percent

(Note: "Some companies adjust percentages due to selling days. 2008 had two fewer selling days than 2007, so the percentages may appear higher.")

This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

For story: Driven to change
4 Comments | Post a Comment

Gas price or gas price trend.

In the past few years we have seen this sort of shift every time gas is rapidly rising -and more expensive than the last peak. We have tended to see a return to nearly the past buying habits during price pullbacks. Only time will tell if the price is now high enough (once people get over the price shock) if the old habits will mostly return.

Biking through the neighborhood this morning, I saw a guy pulling a cabin cruiser (boat), and a woman in a parked but running car on her cell phone. Clearly prices are NOT nearly high enough yet.

by bigTom at 12:34 PM on 26 Apr 2008

'Inflection' not 'Inflexion' Point

nm

P.S. People are still buying Chrysler-brand cars? Aren't they 'operationally' bankrupt?

-- entropyproduction.blogspot.com

by rmcleod at 10:39 PM on 27 Apr 2008

Hybrid sales really 100%...

...every dealership I know of doesn't keep one in stock for more than a few days before it's sold...and those are the ones that even get one on the lot, since most dealerships have waitin' lists for hybrids.

The reason why sales are up 44% and 16% is 'cause production is up nearly 44% and 16%.

If production on the hybrids went up 70%, 90% or 120%, then the sales percentages would go up by similar figures.

by Tasermons Partner at 10:58 PM on 27 Apr 2008

The unexpected

Is this the latest survey? I've been expecting that my chevy tahoe has performed so bad on their sales, I was kinda monitoring their sales and I'm not surprised at all. But what I'm not expecting is the slow sale of Corolla that pulled their sales, what had happened Toyota?

by bOlogOs at 7:20 PM on 28 Apr 2008

ADVERTISING POLICY

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