Take a look at coverage of this month’s auto sales in the mainstream media and you’ll hear a consistent narrative: sales are up, Ford and Chrysler are selling cars in huge numbers, and Americans are choosing smaller vehicles. On face, these statements are true, but when you parse the stats, it’s a less-promising picture. The market is shifting: Nameplates that were once attached to what were universally thought of as small cars are now on vehicles big enough to house a family comfortably, and they do it with decent power and excellent fuel economy (the Honda Civic being one example). Automakers and individual cars can post gains, but no longer is just one vehicle dominant in a segment; look at our breakdown of April’s sales and you can see that several models have a roughly equal—though still big—cut of compact sedan sales. This brings us to June, when most companies sold a lot of a little.
Fiat’s 500 miniaturizes Mini’s sales
When the Fiat 500 launched earlier this year, the company’s president, Sergio Marchionne, said bullishly that the company would sell roughly 50,000 examples this year in the U.S. and Canada. For the sake of comparison, the slightly larger, more-powerful, better-established Mini hardtop and convertible sold just over 45,000 units in 2010—so Fiat’s aim with the Cinquecento is ambitious, to say the least.
And so far, it’s also been wildly inaccurate. Although 500 cars shipped in March to shoppers who preordered the special Prima Edizione version, true sales began in April. Including those first cars, through the end of June, Fiat had managed only 4944 sales of the small hatchback. If Fiat was going to sell 45,000 units in nine months (April through December), the company should have racked up 15,000 sales by now. Yet despite being at only one-ninth of the annual sales goal and 10,000 cars behind schedule, Mr. Marchionne told reporters in June that he expected the 500 to hit sales targets anyway. What’s holding it back from success? Only 70 of the 140 approved dealerships are actually open for business. The 500C cabriolet is just hitting lots now, which should add some interest. Perhaps most worrying, though, is that the issue goes deeper: Americans don’t need tiny vehicles for urban parking, and beyond that, don’t want to put up with the compromises of a 101-hp hatchback that delivers less-than-astonishing fuel economy.
A Sad Anniversary for Mercury Fans—And Former Dealers
Date on which Ford announced it had decided to kill the Mercury brand: June 2, 2010
Headline of press release delivering the news: FORD TO EXPAND LINCOLN LINEUP AND BRAND EMPHASIS; MERCURY PRODUCTION ENDS IN FOURTH QUARTER OF 2010
Total Mercury sales during the first half of 2010: 50,930
Total Lincoln sales during the first half of 2010: 43,762
Total Lincoln sales during the first half of 2011: 42,003
What the numbers reveal: There’s no debating that Mercury had no identity of its own for the past decade—if not longer. But the expectation that many Mercury shoppers would be corralled into Lincoln turned out to be a dud. Some may have shifted to Ford, but certainly not 50,000 of them. Meanwhile, Lincoln continues to struggle and won’t be seeing any fresh products until the arrival of a vehicle to be previewed by a concept at next January’s Detroit auto show.
Range Rover > Land Rover
June 2011 sales of the Range Rover Sport, Land Rover’s bestselling model in this country: 1233
June 2011 sales of the Range Rover, which starts at $79,865: 935
Other models sold here under the Land Rover name: LR2, LR4
Total June 2011 sales for all Land Rover models combined: 3152
June 2010 sales of the BMW X5: 3157
What the numbers reveal: We see two trends here worth noting: First, considering the high starting prices of the Range Rover Sport ($60,495) and the Range Rover, the sales of those two models are actually quite good. The Range Rover outsold the BMW 7-series and several other high-end luxury cars. Second, the Range Rover brand has more value at this point than Land Rover does. In the world of mainstream crossovers, a single lower-priced model—BMW’s X5—outsells the entire Land Rover lineup. The Range Rover Sport was conceived to compete in this territory, but starts at roughly $13,000 more than the X5 does. The LR4 and LR2, which do without the extra cachet of the Range Rover badge, are getting creamed in their segments. It’s no wonder the company has fashioned its upcoming Evoque as a Range Rover—even if its high price tag and smaller stature might scare off some shoppers.
Volkswagen’s Luggage
Combined June 2011 sales of Volkswagen, Audi, and Bentley: 38,673
Number of vehicles by which this exceeds June 2010 sales for those brands: 8905
Increase in Jetta sales from June 2010 to June 2011: 8020
What the numbers reveal: While sales of the new Jetta aren’t off the charts in comparison with mainstream competitors like the Chevy Cruze—which itself was the bestselling car in the country this June—that it accounts for almost the entire increase in Volkswagen Group sales should tell you how important it is to the company. To cut VeeDub some slack, it’s worth keeping in mind that the company went without a Beetle and Passat in June, with all-new generations of those cars hitting dealerships soon. We’ve got a suspicion the Jetta won’t have to shoulder the company’s sales load for too much longer.
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