LexFather

http://www.autoobserver.com/2009/06/...lion-saar.html

Jaguar, Land Rover: LR2 Is Volume Leader

Jaguar Land Rover North America sold 3,391 vehicles in May, a decline of 29 percent from the 4,760 sold in May 2008.

Land Rover sold 2,223 vehicles, a 26 percent drop from 3,003 in the month a year ago. Jaguar sales fell 34 percent to 1,168 units from 1,757 in the year-ago period.

Land Rover U.S. sales in May increased 8.8 percent from April 2009, the company said. Jaguar volume in the U.S. decreased 0.8 percent from April 2009, the company said. Combined, the two brands eked out a .02-percent sales increase in May from April 2009.

"May sales for both the Jaguar and the Land Rover brands in the United States once again surpassed our internal objectives, helped us hold or gain market share and positioned us well for the upcoming launch of exciting new 2010 model year vehicles," Gary Temple, company president, said in a prepared statement.

2009 Land Rover LR2 - 225.JPGA 23-percent increase in LR2 sales - to 613 units from 500 in May 2008 - led the volume at Land Rover. "We are well positioned for the arrival of the enhanced LR4, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover models," Temple said.

At Jaguar, sales of the XK coupes and convertibles fell 13 percent to 243 units versus 279 in May 2008. Other nameplates fell more sharply. The XJ dropped 45 percent to 127 units from 229 in the month a year ago. The XF declined 32 percent to 790 vehicles versus 1,170 in May 2008.

Earlier this year Jaguar said a limited edition XFR and the next-generation XKR coupe and convertible will arrive in the 2010 model year. At year end, Jaguar will launch globally the XJ luxury sedan.

LexFather

Jaguar is now added. The XF is NOT selling so hot here. I hope sales are better worldwide b/c this is not good news for Jag.


Automaker
BMW-18,383
Lexus-16,922
Benz-15,134
Acura, 9,469
Buick-9160
Lincoln-8,566
Cadillac-8027
Jaguar-3391
Audi-7503
Infiniti-6,496
Volvo-5,577
Saab-783

Sub-entry level
Milan-2929
TSX-2466
1 series- 1010
S40-645
9-3-467
C30-379
A3- 280

Could be luxury
Maxima-6082
Lucerne-3307
Avalon-3211
G8- 3081
Genesis- 2,079
Lacrosse-1748
CC-1419


Entry Level
3 series-8621
IS+ES-7037
C class-4842
A4+A5-4164
ES-4125
G37 (Coupe and sedan)-3865
A4 (Sedan only)-3,448
TL-3375
MKZ-2988
CTS-2914
IS-2913
G37 (Sedan only)-2885
S60-591

Mid Level
5 series-3904
E class-2275
DTS-1520
MKS-1321
S80- 1088
XF-790
M 35/45- 658
STS-637
A6- 516
GS-516
RL- 169
9-5-134

Flagship
S-class- 895
LS- 830
7 series- 648
XJ-127
A8- 109

Coupe/Convert (new category)
G37- 980
CLK- 863
A5- 716
C70- 547
SL- 359
Z4-334
SLK-322
6 series-268
XK-243
TT-182
SC-93
CL- 82
XLR-69
R8-44

Cute Useless Ute
GLK- 1759
Q5- 1,413
RDX- 1004
X3- 991
XC60- 896
EX- 540

SUV Midsize
RX-7462
Enclave-4103
MDX-2455
X5-2198
M Class- 2021
MKX- 1908
FX-847
XC90- 840
GX-668
SRX-541
X6-409



SUV Large
Esclade-2346
GL- 1227
Q7-795
Navigator- 790
QX56- 586
LX-315

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

excellent details but a couple of comments about the classifications in red.

LexFather

Good questions. Classes really are difficult and a lot of cars blend them. Technically we could have a "tweener" class, these cars are priced and built like the 30-40k class but are the size or larger than the next class up.
TL
G37
CTS
ES 350

The IS is the only Asian vehicle priced and sized like the 3/C class and succeeds. Everyone else has to offer the bigger car/value car.

Amazingly the new A4 and TSX are now almost the size of the GS, only 3 inches shorter, just as wide and taller. They are now "tweeners" as well.

It used to be pretty easy ten years ago. You had entry level no bigger than 180 inches, midsize no bigger than 190 inches and flagship at 200 inches. This went for the 3/C/IS/A4, GS/5/E, S/7/LS.

Today its just a size/blending mess .

With the Germans creating more classes and sub entry level vehicles, the 3/A4 etc will grow and the 1/A3 etc will become the size of the old cars.

The Japanese have tradionally offered more car for the money, this started with the ES in 1992 (188 inches long, 10 more than the 3) then the I30/35 that was discontinued.

Bottom line, cars are all getting bigger as you know every generation and its rare they stay the same size or get smaller. The only recent examples are the GS (grew .1 inch) and the Maxima (got shorter).

As for the Genesis, it can easily go in the class you are suggesting but its not priced anything like it. The V-6 starts at 32k. The V-8 loaded is around 45k. Thats where the mid-size class starts.

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

Can't believe the GX outsold the GS last month. Ouch.

IS-SV

I can't get hung up on the categories. The pure stats by model tell the story.

LexFather

I wish I could get sales goals for everyone. Then we could really see what cars are selling where they should. People argue based on numbers and forget sales targets.

For example, if Lexus changed their GS target this year to 5,000 units, then people bishing about slow sales can't bish.

Contrarily we are amazed the 5 series might sell 5k units a month but if BMW wanted it to sell 7k units a month, well even by it being #1, it still fell short.

I expect June to be just as dismal as May.

IS-SV

Hope for a little uptick in June, but certainly I have nothing to base the hope on..........

LexFather

We have banks not lending but they should be. We have people saving their cash and not wanting to spend. Unemployment as far as I am concerned is 10%. Consumer confidence is still low and the housing market is nowhere near recovery ready.

Until the housing market gets back on track expect car sales to continue to slump. When people buy houses, they buy cars next.

While I suggest car makers to solider on and not cancel projects its starting to look like it makes no sense to debut anything of significance in todays market. It will be overlooked and unwanted. There are not many new vehicles making significant sales inroads, you can HOPE for average sales.

This is the climate that KILLED the McLaren F1. Possibly the greatest roadcar of our time but people were scared to drop 1 mill on a car back in 1995-1998.....right when they canned the car, the world economy shot up!

GFerg

IMO I think its doing okay. Jaguar will never be a volume seller. They tried that and look where it got them. Keep the brand semi-exclusive. The way it is suppose to be.

There was a story I read not to long ago that made it seem like Jaguar was not going to be around in the U.S. anymore because of decreasing XF sales. But for the month of May it still sold better than the GS, M, A6 and others. Its only offered with a V8 while the others have cheaper V6 versions and it starts somewhere in the 50K range. Initially sales were pretty good when it debuted ( I remember reading about wait lists), but of course the downturn in the economy happened.

The updated 2010 models are not on sale yet including the XFR. The new XJ model should bring more people into the showroom and hopefully boost XF sales as well.

IS-SV

I agree XF sells well here, but that has a lot to do with the abundance of high income households.

LexFather

G, good point, I forgot they don't have V-8 models. Then yes, sales are very good, since a more expensive V-8 only car is selling better than some of the cheaper V-6 option competition (though they are older).

Great job Jag.

LexFather

Japan car sales may pick up from June with tax breaks, subsidies: JAMA


TOKYO, Jun. 18, 2009 (Kyodo News International) -- The chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Thursday that domestic car sales may pick up from June due to new tax breaks and subsidies for fuel-efficient cars the government has recently established to spur spending.

But Satoshi Aoki, also chairman of Honda Motor Co. (NYSE:HMC) , cautioned that market conditions remained tough in April and May, noting there are signs that sales are so far falling behind the association's annual sales target of 4.3 million units for fiscal 2009 ending next March.

''We do have a sense of a slow start against our initial target,'' Aoki said at a press conference in Tokyo. ''But we expect the impact (from government subsidies) to gradually appear from around June.''

In addition to tax breaks introduced in April, the government will begin accepting applications Friday from consumers to receive subsidies for purchases of electric-gasoline hybrids, zero-emission electric vehicles and other energy-saving cars.

Under the scrap incentive program, consumers can receive a subsidy of 250,000 yen if they replace cars that have been registered for more than 13 years with eco-friendly cars. In the case of minivehicles with engines up to 660 cc, the subsidy will be 125,000 yen.

The government estimates that the subsidies will boost JAMA's annual domestic sales target for fiscal 2009 by 690,000 units.

On business conditions in the auto industry, Aoki said there is still ''a sense of excess capacity'' in workforce and that employment conditions are unlikely to improve unless production increases on the back of recovery in global auto demand.

LexFather

China's passenger car sales hit new high of 812,178 units in May
Published: 09 Jun 2009 20:02:37 PST

* Top 5 News From ChinaKnowledge.comAlcatel-Lucent secures 40% of China Telecom's FTTH project
* Greentown's contracted sales revenue hit RMB 6.2 bln in May
* Google sees China market share drop to 20.9% in Q1
* Gucci opens flagship store in Shanghai, plans more China stores
* Warburg exits investment in China Huiyuan Juice

Jun. 10, 2009 (China Knowledge) - China's passenger car sales, which include sales of minivans, sports utility vehicles (SUVs), and multipurpose vehicles, hit a monthly high of 812,178 units in May, up 54.7% from a year earlier, exceeding monthly sales in the U.S. for the fifth consecutive month, according to figures released by China Passenger Car Association, the China Daily reported.

Information from the association showed that total passenger car sales in the first five months increased 29.6% year on year to 3.64 million units.

The growth trend in the passenger car segment is likely to continue in June and hit a new monthly record, said Rao Da, secretary-general of the association, adding that sales in the second half of this year will be much better than in the first six months.

The association also raised this year's sales forecast for automobile sales in China to more than 10 million units.

http://news.alibaba.com/article/deta...sales-hit.html

LexFather

Japan news

Car sales plunge eases in May
Toyota Not so grim: Sales figures for May are expected to show some light at the end of the tunnel. Not so grim: Sales figures for May are expected to show some light at the end of the tunnel.
Government car sales rev-up is kicking in, says GM’s Reuss

By MARTON PETTENDY and IAN PORTER 2 June 2009

OFFICIAL May motor registration figures out tomorrow from VFACTS are expected to show further signs that the market is bottoming, with the decline in monthly sales over last year moderating from more than 20 per cent so far this year to about 17 per cent.

The scenario is echoed in Japan where May sales were down a comparatively good 19.4 per cent, compared with almost 29 per cent in April and 31.5 per cent in March.

The glimmer of hope in Australia came from GM Holden managing director and chairman Mark Reuss who said swift federal government actions to provide business tax incentives to buy cars and also fill the void in car dealer financing in Australia were beginning to take hold.

“You will see that in the industry figures this month, where we will see moderation on the 20 per cent falls we have seen in past months,” Mr Reuss said during his media conference to discuss Holden’s future in the wake of GM’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

“You will see the market probably off around 17 per cent instead of 20 per cent.”

Although the fall in Japan was smaller than in previous months, last month was still the worst May sales figure on record in Japan, which has now notched up 10 consecutive months of automotive industry decline.

Japanese wages fell for the 11 consecutive month in April, when household spending fell 1.3 per cent and the national unemployment rate reached a six-year high of five per cent.

According to JAMA, a total of 178,503 new cars, trucks and buses were sold in Japan last month, compared with 221,377 during May 2008.

Toyota’s total of 80,503 (excluding minicars, which comprise up to 40 per cent of new-vehicle sales in Japan) was 24 per cent down last month, when Nissan sales fell 9.1 per cent.

Japan’s number two auto-maker, Honda, posted a 4.5 per cent sales increase, partly due to new government incentives for buyers of fuel-efficient vehicles that came into effect on April 10.

The Japanese government expects the new ‘hybrid subsidy’, which provides a cash-back rebate for those who trade in cars 13 years or older for ‘greener’ cars, to increase sales by some 690,000 vehicles this fiscal year.

Toyota said on May 8 that has received more than 80,000 orders for the third-generation Prius due on sale in Australia in July, while Honda said on May 21 that its new Insight, which isn’t due here until next year, has attracted 35,000 orders.

Meantime, latest production and domestic sales figures released by Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) 28 show the world’s largest auto-maker produced more than 50 per cent fewer passenger cars in Japan in April. Including trucks and buses, TMC production in Japan decreased by 49.1 per cent in April.

TMC passenger cars sales (including Daihatsu) decreased by 27.3 per cent in Japan in April, when Toyota Australia also posted an uncharacteristically sharp 37.5 per cent month-on-month sales slump.

Exports of TMC passenger cars from Japan declined by a massive 72.0 per cent in April. Combined with a 43.9 per cent decline in overseas production in April, worldwide TMC production declined by 46.5 per cent during April.

Toyota last month said it expected to sell about one million vehicles less that forecast in its current fiscal year, when it has also predicted a larger-than-expected $A12.6 billion operating loss.