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By the Numbers - October 2008: "Thanks, GMAC!" Edition
Sales for the month of October 2008 were... ahem... not good. The auto industry in the U.S. has found a way to slide further into oblivion with only a few bright spots from Audi and MINI, the latter of which enjoyed monster sales last month we suspect on account of greater production capacity this year versus October 2007.
While all the major players were down, General Motors, the largest of them all, was hit the hardest. Its sales volume for October 2008 fell 45% compared to last year. It went from selling an average of 11,923 cars per day in October 2007 to just 6,318 last month. Each of its brands were down, with HUMMER taking the Biggest Loser crown (yet again). The real story, however, is how close behind the other brands were, with Cadillac falling 55.1%, Buick 46.3%, Chevy 40.3%, GMC 52.5%, Pontiac 48.2% and Saturn 54.6%.
What can account for GM's entire brand portfolio taking such a hit? GMAC, the financing arm of General Motors that's majority owned by Cerberus. Halfway through the month GMAC decreed it would only lend money only to buyers with a credit score above 700, which effectively wiped out in-house financing for the majority of GM customers. While dealers could still work with banks to secure financing (and were encouraged to do so), it appears the damage wrought by GMAC could not be undone.BY THE NUMBERS - October 2008
Brand
Vol. % Change
Total Sales 10/08
Total Sales 10/07
DSR % Change
Daily Avg. 10/08
Daily Avg. 10/07
Acura
-21.56%
10,108
12,886
-24.46%
374
496
Audi
0.3%
7,443
7,420
-3.4%
276
285
BMW
-13.9%
20,203
23,451
-17%
748
902
Buick
-46.3%
7,642
14,231
-48.3%
283
547
Cadillac
-55.1%
9,541
21,267
-56.8%
353
818
Chevrolet
-40.3%
107,313
179,825
-42.5%
3,975
6,916
Chrysler
-50.8%
19,903
40,440
-52.6%
737
1,555
Dodge
-27%
53,267
73,020
-29.75%
1,973
2,808
Ford
-27.9%
114,969
159,361
-30.5%
4,258
6,129
GMC
-52.5%
21,109
44,456
-54.3%
782
1,710
Honda
-25.66%
75,756
101,913
-28.41%
2,806
3,920
HUMMER
-64.6%
1,368
3,864
-66%
51
149
Hyundai
-31.1%
20,820
30,232
-33.7%
771
1,162
Infiniti
-28.5%
7,112
9,954
-31.2%
263
383
Jeep
-32.9%
21,360
31,856
-35.4%
791
1,225
Kia
-38.5%
15,483
25,185
-40.8%
573
969
Lexus
-35.2%
16,283
25,119
-37.6%
603
966
Lincoln
-27.7%
7,399
10,229
-30.3%
274
393
Mazda
-25.9%
16,442
22,201
-28.7%
609
854
Mercedes-Benz
-34.3%
14,996
22,820
-36.7%
555
878
Mercury
-47.4%
6,753
12,844
-49.4%
250
494
MINI
56.4%
5,272
3,370
50.6%
195
130
Mitsubishi
-19.3%
7,486
9,280
-22.3%
277
357
Nissan
-33.5%
49,833
74,992
-36%
1,846
2,884
Pontiac
-48.2%
13,054
25,182
-50%
483
969
Porsche
-50.1%
1,427
2,862
-52%
53
110
Saab
-13.2%
1,975
2,275
-16.4%
73
88
Saturn
-54.6%
8,583
18,908
-56.3%
318
727
Subaru
NA
Suzuki
-46.7%
3,482
6,536
-48.7%
129
251
Toyota
-21.3%
135,818
172,473
-24.2%
5,030
6,634
Volkswagen
-7.9%
15,889
17,260
-11.4%
588
664
Volvo
-52.1%
3,717
7,761
-53.9%
138
299
COMPANIES
BMW Group
-5%
25,475
26,821
-8.5%
944
1,032
Chrysler LLC
-34.9%
94,530
145,316
-37.4%
3,501
5,589
FoMoCo
-30.2%
132,838
190,195
-32.7%
4,920
7,315
General Motors
-45%
170,585
310,008
-47%
6,318
11,923
Honda Amer.
-25.2%
85,864
114,799
-28%
3,180
4,415
Nissan NA
-33%
56,945
84,947
-35.4%
2,109
3,267
Toyota Mo Co
-23%
152,101
197,592
-25.9%
5,633
7,600
October 2008 had 27 selling days versus 26 selling days for October 2007
Update: Dodge numbers fixed.
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