LexFather

I agree with those observations. I think sales will continue though, overall to be down, not breaking even. Your thoughts?

And with Infinitii, they have a new G35 sedan coming but nothing else, will that make sales even? And it seems 10k a month is their max.

Hypnotik

They did predict and anticipate that sales for the nissan and infiniti line would be down due to the lack of new product. Not a smart move imo. We'll see how things go as the new products roll in. Besides the M, there are no other new products to attract buyers into the dealerships. I think the G will help

spwolf

Well Nissan has an aging lineup and cant seem to be able to sell their aging cars, so whenever they update the vehicle, their sales will go up... It just sucks for them that their cars are down in the age when everyone's passanger cars are up. It shows they are not doing something right.

Infiniti I dont know anymore. Sedans are doing fine (G35 is still doing awesome), but their SUV's are doing horrible.

jrock65

I think that sales will be okay once their new sedans come out. So starting about October, sales will probably break even, or maybe even go up a couple percentage points. We'll just have to wait and see.

Infiniti will probably break even once the new G35 and coupe are out (i.e., compensating for dropping FX and QX sales; M should hold steady).

The goal for Infiniti, shouldn't really be overall sales. The goal should be to do well in the segments that they are in. The G does well in its segment, and so does the M. The Q is simply a colossal failure.

The QX actually is on target to meet the annual sales goal of 10,000. But Infiniti missed a golden opportunity to really make a name for itself in this segment and give the Escalade a run for its money. The QX is too similar to the Armada and has had too many quality problems. It's tough to sell fullsize SUVs in this market anyway with these gas prices.

That brings us to the FX. I happen to think that 25,000 annual sales is okay for this vehicle. The FX will never go anywhere near the RX's 100,000 annual sales. While it is true that the FX and RX are both luxury "SUVs" for about the same price, and some shoppers do cross-shop the two, IMO they compete in different markets. The FX is a RWD-biased wagon that has a harsh ride, great handling, and little utility. It also has very polarizing styling. The RX is FWD-biased, soft-riding, and is all about luxury.

So basically the FX is more of a niche, sporty raised wagon, and the RX is more of a mainstream luxury SUV. Both vehicles do an excellent job of what they're supposed to do.

I don't think that Infiniti plans on making a more conventional Murano-based SUV to directly compete against the RX and MDX.

GS69

• The Corolla sales are baffling -- this much of an increase over last year? I read somewhere it was bc GM cut back their fleet sales so Corolla took over. In these times of people being gas consumption aware - I think that it is appropriate if it outsells the Camry
• The Accord is oddly only a couple of thousand behind the Camry -- which unless I am looking at it wrong, is slightly down from last year this month despite not having a negative mark
• GS - eh, I will let everyone else argue this but I am sure sales will go up w/ the new engines
• The RL @ least has stabilized its low sales
• IS/ES - Thank goodness for these 2 or Lexus sales would not look cute
• Suzuki is on a roll - lucky 4 them SUV/truck sales are down & compacts are up
• Honda needs to hurry up & build that plant bc I hear it is hard to get a Civic & Fit & that might explain their relatively low sales
• I am surprised by the Yaris sales - that thing looks cheap to me; the Scion Xa looks more expensive & nicer
• I only wish the best for Mitsubishi & Isuzu

RON430

No point discussing GS sales, or lack thereof. The 350 should be generating numbers sometime and we can see what it does for the volume GS model. We shouldn't have too many more months to wait for LS sales numbers. As for a GS460 set of numbers, I don't expect any data for a long time. I just don't think it is a priority for Lexus to put the 460 in the GS very quickly.

I wonder if gas mileage is starting to affect luxo sales? In Merc, the S is doing well but then it is living off of the first year gottahaves. I am sure the bimmophiles will be able to post the reason for the bimmer declines due to huge incentives or some such thing last year but the year over year July numbers don't look like a trend that they should be happy about if it sticks around.

A6 sales increased 13%? Whodathunk?

encore888

Lexus is doing well, coasting on the strength of its big volume models...ES/IS/RX...and may I say, they are best-in-class and well-deserving of their high sales.

The 'Lexus Golden Opportunity' sales event just started, I wonder what effect that will have? Lexus sales are already up to record levels.

spwolf

you think Nissan wants only 25k sales of FX? Considering they sell mostly in the US, I dont see how they can justify the cost of development.

It is probably the worst selling luxury SUV, I doubt anyone targets that.

LexFather

I do agree with Jrock they could not possibly want 100k sales a year like the RX or even 70k like the MDX but 25k is awful, especially since it just got revised this year, they have a HUGE advertising campaign and sales are down.

Not sure what to think anymore. The Q45 is now discontinued, its not on the website for 2007 or 2007 print. QX sales will continue to drop as M sales. The G35 sedan comes, then the coupe a year later. That is basically it.

We are looking at a lineup of 2 cars (G/M 35/45) and 2 SUVs (FX/QX).

GS69

Entry Level Sales:

• 3 Series 8,585
• ES 7,803
• TL 6,304
• C Class 5,285
• G35 3,128/2,090 - 5,218
• IS 4,848
• A4 2,917

Mid Level Sales:

• E class 4,479
• 5 Series 3,474
• M 2,293
• GS 1,776/299 - 2,075
• A6 1,652
• RL 1,272

spwolf

well, thats why you have new models, to increase sales, yeah? Or is there some other reason?
And actually, Lexus was up 5.6%
:-).

Whats your take on BMW's poor performance this month? 13.4% down is pretty darn big.

spwolf

No, Lexus as an whole was up 5.6%. Passanger cars Lexus was up 22%. Percentages are adjusted based on selling days in the month.

And you are adding Mini sales to BMW sales, BMW brand sells considerably less vehicles than Lexus - BMW brand sold 20k in July vs 26k for Lexus for example. For the year, numbers are 157k for BMW brand vs 177k for Lexus.

Now, BMW's drop of 13.7% is a lot more of an problem than Lexus having "only" 3 big hits :-).

GS69

Ford Displaced by Toyota as #2 Automaker
Toyota knocked Ford out of the number two automaker slot in July, for the first time ever. But that wasn't the only major shift in the top five this month. Honda also pushed the Chrysler Group out of fourth place. While DaimlerChrysler as a whole outsold Honda by around 20,000 units, this marks a change from last month, when Chrysler Group outsold Honda.

* 1. General Motors (406,298)
* 2. Toyota (241,826)
* 3. Ford (240,011)
* 4. Honda (151,804)
* 5. Chrysler Group (150,349)

biker

TSX - 3799 another record

doug_999

Spwolf - do you work in marketing? Something tells me you do

Yes, Toyota uses the tricky DSR (Daily Selling Rate ) for their percentages - makes your numbers look better if you need them to.

BMW does not.

So, with DSR
Lexus up 5.6%
BMW down 9.9%

So without DSR
Lexus up 1.5%
BMW down 13.4%