Auto Sales Plunge

September Auto Sales Plunge in Aftermath of Cash for Clunkers; SAAR at 9.2M units, LDV Sales Down 41% from August, Hybrid Sales Down 48%

Green Car Congress

Reported hybrid sales by month. Click to enlar

In the aftermath of the summer sales boom fueled by the US Cash for Clunkers program, September 2009 light duty vehicles sales dropped back to pre-incentive lows. With 745,997 cars and light duty trucks sold in September, according to Autodata, sales were down 22.7% year-on-year, and off 41% from August. The Seasonally Adjusted Sales Rate (SAAR) in September dropped back down to 9.22 million units, from 14.09 million units in August.

Reported sales of hybrids in September dropped 4.1% year-on-year to 19,977 units. (Reported sales do not include sales of the Mercedes S400 hybrid, which went onsale in the US late in August.) Compared to August results (38,701 units), however, hybrid sales dropped 48.4%. New vehicle market share for reported hybrid sales in September dropped back down to 2.7% from a high of 3.6% in July.

Hybrid new vehicle market share by month. Click to enlarge.

September 2009 had 25 sales days compared to 24 days for September 2008. All comparisons in this post are based on actual volume, not adjusted day sales rate.

Toyota. Toyota Motor Sales (TMS) reported September sales of 126,015 vehicles, a decrease of 12.6% by volume from last September. TMS posted September sales of 14,585 hybrid vehicles, down 5.3% from September 2008.

The Prius posted September sales of 10,984 units, up 1% from September 2008, but down 42% from August 2009. Camry Hybrid posted 872 units in September, down 68.7% year-on-year, and Highlander Hybrid posted 269 units, down 70.8% year-on-year.

September 2009 SAAR. Data: Autodata. Click to enlarge.

The Lexus Rx hybrid posted 1,168 units, up 57% year-on-year; the GS hybrid posted 38 units, up 31% year-on-year; and the LS 600h posted 12 units, down 74.5%. The new HS250 posted 1,242 units.

Ford. In September, Ford reported a 6% drop in sales year-on-year. Ford estimates it gained over 2 points of market share versus last year in September and the third quarter.

Ford sold 2,138 hybrids in September, up 116% year-on-year. Sales of the Escape/Milan hybrid were down 11.3% year-on-year to 878 units, but the Fusion and Milan hybrids accounted for 1,260 units.

Honda. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., posted total September vehicle sales of 77,229, a decline of 20% year-on-year.

Honda hybrid sales dropped 6% year-on-year to 1,898 units. Sales of the Civic Hybrid plunged 92.5% to 152 units, but the new Honda Insight posted 1,746 units.

General Motors. General Motors dealers in the United States delivered 155,679 light duty vehicles in September, down 45% year-on-year. GM retail sales were down 46% while fleet sales declined 43%.

A total of 1,011 GM hybrid vehicles were delivered in the month, down 48.3% from September 2008.

Nissan. Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) reported September 2009 sales of 55,393 units versus 59,565 units last year, a decrease of 7%.

Sales of the Altima Hybrid dropped 26.6% year-on-year to 345 units.