Diving Deeper into October Auto Sales Results
Diving a little deeper into October sales results, the Detroit Free Press published 5 things we learned from October Auto sales
"Industry analysts automakers remains on track to sell about 17.4 million new cars and trucks this year -- a number that would be the second most in the history of the U.S. auto industry"">Sales of new cars and trucks probably fell about 6.7% in October even though the overall health of the industry remains strong." Some great insights:
- Honda sold nearly 5,000 more trucks than cars: Honda sold 65,569 "trucks" in October compared with 60,592 cars. Here, we are using the catch-all industry lingo for "trucks," which includes SUVs and vehicles such as the Honda Ridgeline, Pilot and CRV and even the Odyssey minivan
- FCA is charging ahead with Ram: Sales of the Ram brand increased 12% in October, making it one of the few bright spots for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
- Big SUVs, crossovers helped General Motors: Big, full-size SUVs like the Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe and Yukon helped to power GM to better-than-expected results. Sales of those big, body-on-frame brutes increased 85%, 81% and 61% respectively.
- The fallout from Volkswagen's diesel gate scandal continues: German automaker Volkswagen Group's namesake brand continued its prolonged sales slump as the company tries to overcome a diesel emissions scandal and an outdated product lineup that have kept shoppers away from the showroom. VW brand sales reversed 18.5% to 24,779 units.
- Still steering clear of the danger zone: The pace of auto industry sales continues to keep the auto industry hovering above the danger zone. Average industry incentives are increasing, and are at record highs, but the average transaction prices of new cars and trucks also are at record levels.GM said its average transaction price in October was $36,155, or $1,000 more than a year ago.
