DETROIT: Major carmakers reported better-than-expected US sales in June, capping a strong second-quarter comeback from a brutal winter, but some companies displayed signs of softening demand for their most popular models.
General Motors Co bucked Wall Street’s low expectations and negative publicity over a flood of safety recalls, reporting a modest rise in US sales in June.
Chrysler Group, Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co also reported year-to-year increases. They all topped analysts’ expectations, as did Ford Motor Co.
Ford said yesterday that US industry auto sales were unchanged from a year ago, which is better than the 3 percent decline analysts had expected. “Sales in the first half of 2014 indicate a steadily recovering industry, and we expect this pace to increase as we move into the second part of the year,” said Bill Fay, Toyota Division group vice president and general manager.
GM delivered 267,461 new cars in June, up 1 percent from a year earlier. Analysts had expected 247,767.
In the first six months, the top US automaker has issued 54 safety recalls totaling a record 29 million vehicles. GM has linked at least 16 deaths to several of the problems leading to the recalls.
Ford sales fell 5 percent to 222,064 vehicles, but the company still beat the analysts’ forecast of 217,007. Chrysler had a 9 percent gain to 171,086, Toyota climbed 3 percent to 201,714 and Nissan was up 5 percent at 109,643.
A poll of analysts shows US sales expectations of 16.4 million vehicles for the month on a seasonally adjusted annualised basis. GM said the industry’s annual selling rate in June was an estimated 16.6 million.
While automakers continue to subsidise sales with heavy discounts on a variety of models, the industry has seen average transaction prices hit a record $29,630 in the first half, according to research firm JD Power. Consumer spending on new vehicles in the first half also reached a record $194bn, the firm said.
Incentive spending by automakers was heavy in June, averaging $2,897 per vehicle, according to JD Power data. Ford was the leader, with average per-vehicle discounts of $3,699, followed by GM at $3,640.
Ford sales analyst Erich Merkle said the average transaction prices industrywide for pickup trucks were up $3,300 from a year ago. Pickup trucks are critical for the three domestic automakers because of their high profit margins. Despite substantial discounts, Ford saw demand for its full-size F-series pickups — the best-selling vehicles in the industry — decline 11 percent to 60,560. Reuters
