August US auto sales down 2% despite help from "clunkers"

01 September 2009 23:10  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--The US government's popular "cash for clunkers" rebate programme gave the domestic auto industry a boost in August, but could not keep total US vehicle sales from declining by 2% year over year, according to data released on Tuesday.

Aggregate sales from the six major car manufacturers were 1,007,863 units in August, down from 1,029,139 total vehicles sold in August 2008.

Even though total sales were at a year-over-year decline, the contraction from last year was minor enough to make it the best sales month of 2009.

Ford built on momentum from a year-over-year sales increase in July by posting a 17% jump in August sales from the year before.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based company got a windfall of sales as a result of the "clunkers" trade-in initiative that ended on 25 August.

Ford was the only of the three US-based car companies to have models make the list of the top 10 vehicles purchased through the fuel-efficient rebate programme, according to US Department of Transportation (DOT) figures.

Mark LaNeve, vice president of US sales for General Motors (GM), called the rebates a "shot in the arm for the economy" and said there was "an ongoing recovery in the market" even though the company's sales were down 20% from last August.

Toyota gained as much from "clunkers" as any carmaker after posting an all-time high sales month for its car sector, selling 142,529 cars.

The Japanese carmaker recorded a 10% increase in total vehicle sales last month and accounted for nearly 20% of all cars bought with the rebates, the highest of any manufacturer, according to the DOT.

"In addition to increased sales, the CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System, or "cash for clunkers") provided tangible benefits to consumers, dealers and industry related businesses, as well as state and local economies, in the form of sales tax and registration income," said Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales.

Honda, which had three of the top 10 most-purchased "clunkers" vehicles, also benefited from the discount of up to $4,500 (€3,150) for fuel-efficient cars, with a 10% increase in year-over-year sales.

Nearly all six major auto manufacturers with plants in the US announced they would start up additional production in the coming quarters in response to the bump in sales over the past two months.

That would help the chemical industry, due to the 331 lb (150kg) of plastics used in every automobile made in the US, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC).

Each US-made automobile also contains nearly $2,700 worth of chemical products or chemical processing value, according to the ACC.

The table below reflects August sales.

	2009			2008
	Car	Truck	Total	Car	Truck	Total	% change
Chrysler	22,638	70,584	93,222	26,016	84,219	110,235	-15
Ford	65,654	110,669	176,323	52,677	98,344	151,021	17
GM	118,744	127,735	246,479	124,440	184,376	308,816	-20
Honda	106,972	54,467	161,439	86,827	60,028	146,885	10
Nissan	78,166	27,146	105,312	56,476	52,017	108,493	-3
Toyota	155,139	69,949	225,088	124,830	78,889	203,719	10
Total	547,313	460,550	1,007,864	471,266	557,873	1,029,139	-2

 

($1 = €0.70)

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By: Ryan Hickman
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