New vehicle retail sales in the United States declined 8% in the first 12 days of February when compared to a similar time period a year ago, according to the Power Information Network (PIN).
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American Honda was the only multi-franchise manufacturer to experience a retail sales gain in early February (up 4% compared to a year ago), but several other manufacturers experienced declines that were less than the overall industry.
General Motors and Toyota Motor both had 1% sales declines, while Nissan decreased by 7%. DaimlerChrysler and Ford both experienced declines in retail sales greater than the overall industry.
“American Honda is benefiting from positive reviews and word of mouth about its new Civic, as well as continued incremental sales of its Ridgeline midsize pickup,” said PIN industry analysis head Tom Libby. “General Motors is also showing signs of life, as it out-performed the industry for the first time in many months.”
In addition to the retail sales improvement, American Honda also recorded a gain in retail market share in early February, increasing to 11.9% compared with 10.5% a year ago. Several major manufacturers increased their retail market share in early February when compared to a year ago, including GM (21.8% compared to 20.3%); Nissan (8.1% compared to 7.9%); and Toyota Motor (17.1% compared to 15.9%). DaimlerChrysler and Ford Motor both experienced decreases in retail market share when compared to early February 2005.
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By GlobalDataAfter the launch of an aggressive pricing strategy and several new products in early January, General Motors has out-performed the industry and gained retail market share when compared to their performance in early February of 2005. While total industry wide new-vehicle retail sales declined 8% in early February, GM’s retail sales declined by only 1% and its share of the retail market increased from 20.3% to 21.8%. This is the first time that GM has out-performed the industry in the past five months.
“GM’s retail market share is off to a slow start, but should finish the month somewhat higher than its mid-month estimate,” said JD Power and Associates global forecasting chief economist Bob Schnorbus.
“After averaging about 23% of the retail market in 2005, GM sales finished January at 21%, or several points higher than their mid-month estimate. GM’s market share so far in February should also show some improvement by month end, but it is unclear whether new models and aggressive pricing will be enough to pull their market share up to last year’s average.”
New-vehicle manufacturers relied less on customer cash rebates in early February 2006 than they did a year ago, with the average rebate amount decreasing by 6% to US$1,141. Several major manufacturers reduced their average rebates substantially in February, with the average cash rebates at DaimlerChrysler and GM declining 20% and 15%, respectively. Additionally, only 48% of new-vehicle retail sales in early February included a rebate, down from 50% a year ago.
Conversely, Ford Motor and Nissan on average offerd larger rebate cash amounts when compared with a year ago. American Honda does not use customer cash rebates and Toyota Motor uses rebates to a much smaller degree than the domestic brands.
