US market recovering

THE new-vehicle market in the United States is well on the road to recovery, hitting levels in the first four months of 2012 not seen since the GFC, with total industry sales up 10.3 per cent.

After posting the best first quarter since 2008, sales rose 2.3 per cent in April, putting the US market on track for 14.4 million sales this year.

Chrysler and Toyota recorded the best results of the major brands in April – gaining 20.0 per cent and 11.6 per cent respectively – while Ford and General Motors both lost ground over the same month last year.

Toyota’s recovery one year on from the Japanese tsunami appears to have come at the expense of Ford and GM, which had gained market share while the Japanese giant struggled with supply shortages on top of safety recall dramas, according to trade-in data from auto industry research company Edmunds.

Star performers for Toyota included the new Camry, which jumped 20.9 per cent, and Prius, which doubled with the addition of the Prius C and Prius V variants. Sales of the hybrid models reached 25,168 for the month – not so far behind the 36,820 for Camry.

Within the Fiat-owned Chrysler Group, the biggest rise was for the Chrysler brand (up 56 per cent thanks to the new 300 sedan and the smaller 200 model), while Jeep rose 19 per cent, but its biggest brand by volume remains Dodge (up 2.0 per cent to 45,248 units, with Avenger sedan and Journey crossover sales more than making up for the now-dead Caliber).

From top: Toyota Camry Hybrid, Toyota Prius C and Chrysler 300.

Ford barely held out Toyota for second place on the April sales chart, dropping 5.0 per cent over April 2011, with the Fiesta light car and the outgoing Escape compact SUV faring worst.

The Focus small car and new Edge SUV picked up ground but the mainstay for Ford remains the F-150 pick-up, which accounts for more than a quarter of the company’s sales – more than twice as many as the next best, the mid-size Fusion (Mondeo).

GM retained market leadership in April – down 8.2 per cent to 213,387 vehicles versus 180,350 for Ford and 178,044 for Toyota – with the Chevrolet brand down 8.4 per cent (to 155,487), Buick down 16.1 per cent (to 15,466), Cadillac down 25.0 per cent (to 9851) and GMC up 4.5 per cent (to 32,603).

While sales of the Volt plug-in hybrid followed the lead of the Prius by trebling its sales over the same month last year, it only reached 1462 sales in April whereas its mighty Chevrolet Silverado truck stablemate was again the top-selling GM model, rising 4.8 per cent to 30,749 sales.

Chevy’s Australian-developed Camaro once again beat the arch-rival Ford Mustang, but a drop of 11.3 per cent to 9627 left it ahead by only 1826 units, while sales of the Cruze small car and soon-to-be-replaced Impala large car each tumbled by about 28 per cent.

Among other brands, Volkswagen posted a massive 31.5 per cent gain over the same month last year, Mercedes-Benz gained 23.8 per cent, Audi gained 15.0 per cent, BMW gained 12.0 per cent, Honda gained 2.2 per cent and Korean pair Kia and Hyundai each gained 1.0 per cent.

Nissan dropped 0.3 per cent, mainly due to a 5.8 per cent decline for its top-selling model, the Altima mid-size sedan, which is in run-out mode. The new generation Altima was unveiled at the New York auto show last month and will go on sale in the US in the second half of this year.

VW benefited from gains for the new-generation Beetle and improved take-up of diesel engines in Golf and the new Passat, while fellow German marques Mercedes, Audi and BMW also reported improved diesel sales.

Both Kia and Hyundai have been posting sales records in the US, like the rest of the world, and last month sold 47,550 and 62,264 vehicles respectively.

Kia’s best performer is the Optima mid-size sedan, which overtook the Sorento large SUV as the brand’s top-selling model in the US (with the Soul moving up to second), while the new Rio light car also improved significantly.

Hyundai’s US top sellers remain the Elantra small car and Sonata mid-size sedan, but both last ground in April (down 24.0 per cent and 5.6 per cent) while the Accent jumped 40.3 per cent to counteract the losses.

US sources say the Japanese brands that are the ones to watch, though, as inventory levels are now back to normal after the earthquake-related supply shortages of the past year and the likes of Toyota can hit buyers with incentives including zero-interest finance.

Toyota’s market share in April was 15 per cent, which is still a long way from its 17 per cent high in 2009 but a big step forward from its recent low of 10.5 per cent last June when it was reeling from the earthquake and a series of safety recalls.

The Japanese brands are also said to be tackling the less-profitable rental market, from which GM is actively withdrawing.

“There’s no doubt the Japanese are back in the market,” warned GM sales chief Don Johnson.