The Consumer Reports Cars Blog takes a look at the usual hype that accompanies year-to-year sales figures — comparing vehicle sales to February 2009 is a lot like comparing Phoenix to Hell and saying Phoenix isn’t so bad. Looking back before the great recession gives us a more realistic view.
As you can see, a few manufacturers have even reached and surpassed their numbers from back in February 2007 and 2008.
- Hyundai-Kia had a negligible gain compared with 2/07, but a 9 percent gain compared with 2/08 sales figures.
- Subaru saw gains of 42 percent compared with 2/07 and 40 percent improvement over 2/08.
- Volkswagen Group increased sales by 4 percent over 2/07 and 6 percent over 2/08.
- Despite its challenges, Chrysler appears to have held its own. However, Automotive News reports that 58 percent of Chrysler sales this February went to fleets, rather than consumers. These are low-margin sales that are not sustainable.
In contrast, the major manufacturers with hyped February 2010 sales figures are still down significantly compared with February 2007 and 2008 sales:
- Chrysler–down 52 percent and 44 percent, respectively
- Ford–down 32 percent and 28 percent
- General Motors–down 54 percent and 47 percent
- Honda–down 27 percent and 30 percent
- Toyota–down 47 percent and 45 percent
As a whole, the industry is down 38 percent compared with 2/07, and down 34 percent compared with 2/08.