Detroit News did not see an improvement in the overall market, but dissection of some of the figures are interesting.
GM said its May sales fell 1.4 percent to 237,156 vehicles compared to the same month a year ago. The automaker said its car sales fell 11.5 percent year on year, while truck sales slipped 3.7 percent. Crossover sales increased 15 percent from the same month a year ago.
Meanwhile, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV reported a 0.9 percent drop in May over last year with sales of 193,040 vehicles. FCA saw mixed results across its lineup. Jeep sales dropped 14.7 percent, while Ram Trucks jumped 18.2 percent. The Chrysler brand sales dropped 1.8 percent, while Dodge rose 8.4 percent. Fiat sales dipped 15.8 percent.
Results across the rest of the industry were mixed, with Toyota, Hyundai and Kia posting sales declines and Volkswagen, Nissan and Honda seeing increases in May.
Some automakers and analysts have scaled back their expectations for the year, amid high inventory levels and incentives. LMC Automotive trimmed its forecast of retail sales this year to 13.9 million vehicles as it expects a slowdown to continue in the second half of the year. The company and J.D. Power said last month that on average, it was taking more than 70 days for vehicles to clear dealer lots for the first time since 2009.
Ford said it was sticking to its forecast of 17.7 million sales for 2017, including medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks. The automaker indicated that sales in the second half of last year were stronger than the first six months of the year. GM, however, indicated the sales pace is softer than what it had expected earlier in the year.
It is easy to see that traditional sedan sales are going down, whilst trucks, SUV’s and Cross-Overs are going up, but it should not be forgotten that numerically sedan sales are still the major seller in the USA.
