Ford’s Mustang sales plunged 36.6% in April as cars struggled to move off of dealer lots.
Cleveland, Ohio – Let’s start with the good news. Despite across-the-board sales declines in April, the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) for auto sales stayed higher than 17 million. So, while sales are slowing, they’re still at historically high levels.
Need more of a silver lining to some very cloudy results? At least some of the sales declines are strategic rather than demand based. General Motors (GM) continues to reduce fleet sales, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA US LLC) can blame planned vehicle retirements for some of its losses. Per-vehicle spending also increased.
However, for the most part, April was a rough month for the industry with overall sales falling nearly 5%.
Breaking down company-by-company results:
- General Motors – 244,406 -5.8%. If Chevrolet didn’t make up two-thirds of GM’s sales, April would have been a fantastic month. Buick was up 17% as the popularity of the Envision small crossover continues to grow. The slightly larger Encore crossover also had a good month, climbing 27%. Cadillac barely missed posting a double-digit increase (9.5%, rounded up), thanks to rising sales of the CT6 flagship sedan and growing strength for the XT5 small crossover. Unfortunately, Chevy is the bulk of GM, and sales for the mass-market brand were down more than 10%, mainly because of a nearly 20% plunge for pickups.
- Ford – 214,695 -7.2%. As with GM, Ford’s pickup sales fell, but the maker of the F-150 was able to limit the damage to a 0.2% decline, 117 fewer vehicles than in April of 2016. Executives note that per-truck spending leapt $3,700 as the F-Series Super Duty line gained buyers and more F-150 buyers (nearly 70%) opted for EcoBoost turbocharged engines. On the down side, car sales were miserable, dropping 23.7%. The 14,000-vehicle drop in car sales is roughly the equivalent of taking the Focus, Ford’s second-best seller, completely off the market. Other pain points included only small increases for crossover and SUVs at a time when GM is racking up records in those markets and a 20% drop in commercial van sales.
- Toyota – 201,926 -4.4%. Toyota’s crossover/SUV sales were good in April, but the positive news ends there. Car sales fell more than 10% with big declines from the Corolla compact, Camry mid-sized, and Prius hybrid. Only the Yaris subcompact posted a gain (up 14%). Things were even worse (down 21.5%) for Lexus luxury cars. An 8.7% increase in crossover/SUV sales mitigated those car losses, but results were more muted than in previous months. Land Cruiser and Sequoia large SUV sales fell, offset by big increases for the Highlander mid-sized crossover and newly released C-HR small crossover.
- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles LLC (FCA US) – 177,441 -6.6%. Despite the decline, FCA officials have a lot to be happy about from April’s results. Jeep sales declined 17%, but most of that came from the retirement of the Compass and Patriot small SUVs. Without those vehicles, Jeep sales were down only 4%. Perhaps the best news, though, was in minivans. Between the Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Caravan, results were up for the family vehicles for the first time this year, thanks entirely to growing numbers for the Pacifica. Not only is the Pacifica significantly more expensive than the Town & Country it replaced (up to $50,000 for some models), it’s Chrysler’s current flagship vehicle, the one it hopes to use to show drivers the quality and technological capabilities of the brand. Outside of Jeep and Chrysler, FCA’s results were fair to mixed – up slightly for Ram pickups, down slightly for Dodge.
- Honda – 138,386 -7.0%. Only two Honda mainstream vehicles posted gains in April, the CR-V small crossover and the even smaller HR-V crossover. Those gains couldn’t offset double-digit declines for the Accord sedan and Civic compact or the 5.1% drop for the Fit subcompact. For percentage gains, the clear winner is the Ridgeline pickup, jumping 318,500%. Unfortunately for Honda, that’s a statistical blip – the company sold only one Ridgeline a year ago and 3,186 last month, creating the ridiculous percentage increase.
- Nissan – 111,201 -2.0%. The Rogue small crossover continues to be Nissan’s biggest hit, growing 18.2% in April and remaining the company’s No. 1 seller. But it wasn’t enough to overcome an 28.9% plunge for Altima mid-sized sedans and a 9.2% drop for Versa subcompacts. Overall, Nissan had the industry’s best performance as gains for trucks mostly offset declines for cars.
- Hyundai/Kia – 116,408 -1.9%. Hyundai’s 1.3% gain couldn’t offset the 5.6% drop at Kia, sending the company company’s sales down for the month. Outside of the Genesis luxury line, Hyundai had a very good April. The Ioniq hybrid sold 1,316 units in its second month on the market, topping the Genesis G80 luxury model. Following sharp declines during the first quarter, the Sonata mid-sized sedan recovered, gaining 7%. The Elantra compact jumped 32.2%. But those successes couldn’t overcome weakness from the Kia Rio subcompact (down 42%), Kia Sportage SUV (-25.8%), or the Soul boxy compact (-20.3%).
About the author: Robert Schoenberger is the editor of Today’s Motor Vehicles and a contributor to Today’s Medical Developments and Aerospace Manufacturing and Design. He has written about the automotive industry for more than 17 years at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio; The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky; and The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi.