GS69

http://www.autonews.com/article/2017...IL01/304049999

LUXURY: BMW gets 1st win over Mercedes in 2017

April 3, 2017 @ 6:45 pm

Gabrielle Coppola

Bloomberg

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Sales slip 1.7% despite higher discounts

BMW topped its rival in the U.S. luxury auto market for the first time this year, eeking out a monthly sales gain and gaining ground on Mercedes-Benz.

Deliveries of the X3 and X5 SUVs climbed 43 percent and 35 percent last month, respectively, pacing BMW’s total sales of 31,015 vehicles. The Munich-based automaker outsold Mercedes by about 1,900 units in March.

As plummeting demand for passenger cars led most automakers to miss analysts’ estimates last month, BMW managed to keep deliveries of its 3 series and 5 series models roughly flat compared with a year earlier. The victory in March pulled BMW to within 7,500 vehicle sales of Mercedes through the first three months of the year.

“Our new BMW 5 series is just breaking into what is a difficult market for sedans but orders are solid,” Bernhard Kuhnt, CEO of BMW’s North American unit, said in a statement. “With 2 more variants on their way, we are optimistic for the months ahead.”
BMW ceded the global sales title to Mercedes for the first time since 2013 last year. CEO Harald Krueger is planning to respond by unveiling 40 vehicles over the next 2 years, the biggest rollout of new and revamped models in BMW’s history. Its sedan-heavy lineup has put it at a disadvantage in a market where Americans are increasingly opting for crossovers, said Michelle Krebs, an analyst with Autotrader.com.

“BMW has sport utility vehicles, but it’s not its great strength,” she said by phone.Mercedes has sold 79,141 vehicles in the U.S. this year through March, compared with BMW’s 71,682 units. The laggard in the Mercedes lineup last month was the entry-level CLA coupe, with deliveries plunging 52 percent.

Volkswagen AG’s Audi said deliveries rose 1.7 percent to 18,705 vehicles in March, boosted by an 18 percent increase for the Q5 SUV. Sales for Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus line fell 7.5 percent, driven by a 28 percent slump in passenger car sales.

GS69

http://www.autonews.com/article/20170403/RETAIL01/170329816/sales-slip-1-7-despite-higher-discounts

Sales slip 1.7% despite higher discounts

Ford, Honda, Toyota, FCA, Hyundai and Kia overshadow gains at Nissan, GM

U.S. light-vehicle sales dropped 1.7 percent in March as decreases at Ford, Honda, Toyota, FCA, Hyundai and Kia overshadowed gains at Nissan and General Motors, even amid higher spending on discounts.

The results suggest the auto industry -- despite strong truck demand -- is losing momentum heading into the key spring selling season after seven consecutive years of gains. The seasonally adjusted, annualized sales rate fell to 16.6 million, well below a forecast of 17.2 million and the lowest pace of sales since February 2015. The SAAR was 16.66 million in March 2016 and 17.57 million in February and January.

Overall, light-truck deliveries jumped 5.4 percent last month while car sales skidded 11 percent.

Before Monday's reports, U.S. light-vehicle sales for March were projected to rise to their highest level for the month since 2000, according to analysts’ forecasts.

After hitting a record high of 17.54 million in 2016, capped by a very strong December, U.S. auto sales have dropped 1.6 percent this year through March, even as automakers dangle fatter discounts.

A 3.2 percent increase at Nissan kept its 2017 winning streak alive, while GM climbed for a second consecutive month. Ford, Toyota, Fiat Chrysler, Hyundai and Kia are still seeking their first monthly gains of the year, while American Honda fell for the first time.

GM initially pegged March’s SAAR at 17 million but said later Monday it was tracking at 16.7 million based on results from other automakers, as well as lower than expected fleet shipments at GM and Ford.

"We believe strong car-buying fundamentals are reflected in the retail component of the light vehicle SAAR, which was 13.8 million in March, up 0.1 million versus a year ago," a GM spokesman said.

Nissan Motor Co. benefited from strong demand for crossovers, a double-digit increase in incentives and a big jump at Infiniti.

Volume edged up 0.5 percent at the Nissan brand and 33 percent at Infiniti. The automaker said car volume dropped 15 percent while truck sales surged 29 percent, with record truck volume of 77,258 at the Nissan brand.

ALG estimates Nissan’s average incentive on new vehicles rose to $4,074 last month, 18 percent higher than a year earlier.At GM, sales edged up 1.6 percent on a 5 percent rise in retail sales and a 21 percent increase in incentive spending. (See chart below.) Volume rose 12 percent at GMC and 15 percent at Buick but slipped 2.2 percent at Chevrolet and 1.5 percent at Cadillac.

Sales dropped 7.2 percent at Ford Motor Co. The automaker recorded a 17 percent drop in fleet shipments, 24 percent plunge in car sales and a 1.5 percent dip in retail demand. Sales declined 7.4 percent at the Ford division and 1.4 percent at Lincoln, ending a seven-month streak of gains for the luxury brand.

Honda Motor Co. posted a slight decline in March as record truck demand failed to overcome weaker car volume and sharply lower Acura deliveries.

Sales at the Honda brand rose 1.8 percent but dropped 21 percent at Acura.American Honda said its truck sales rose 8.4 percent, setting a March record at the Honda division -- 61,975, up 13 percent -- while car demand skidded 8.7 percent, with Accord deliveries dropping 12 percent and Civic volume down 4 percent.

At Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, sales declined 4.4 percent as demand fell for a seventh straight month. Jeep, which had been the automaker’s post-recession mainstay, was down 11 percent and hasn’t seen a sales gain since August. The Chrysler and Fiat brands were also down, while Dodge and Ram were up.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s 2.1 percent decline marked its smallest setback of the year. The Toyota division slipped 1.2 percent, while Lexus dropped 7.5 percent.

Hyundai's sales dropped 10 percent, its fourth consecutive decline, and Kia posted its third straight monthly decline, with volume off 15 percent.

Among other automakers, deliveries rose 11 percent at Subaru, the brand's 64th consecutive gain, 2.7 percent at Volkswagen, 4.9 percent at Mazda and 6.2 percent at Mitsubishi. It was the fourth straight monthly gain for the VW brand as it slowly rebounds from emissions violations that have sidelined U.S. sales of diesel models.

Automakers are raising deals on new cars as consumers continue to migrate to light trucks. Photo credit: DAVID PHILLIPS

Cars over trucks

Automakers are being forced to raise deals on new cars as consumers continue to migrate to light trucks. Edmunds estimates average car incentives totaled $3,120 in March, up from $3,101 in February, while light truck discounts averaged $3,400 last month.

“A closer look at incentives, inventory levels and car sales illustrates the bi-polar nature of the current market," said Karl Brauer, executive publisher for Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book. "Incentives have risen across the board, even on the same truck and SUV models that used to sell themselves. Coupes, hatchbacks and sedans continue to struggle almost universally, setting up a sort of 'demand race' between falling cars and rising trucks/SUVs as the overall market teeters between growth and decline. With economic factors slowly improving and automakers pushing ever-larger incentives levers, this pattern could continue for the rest of 2017.”

Even with the March decline in Civic deliveries, volume reached nearly 32,000 and Honda said the compact car was the best-selling car in America on a retail basis in the first quarter of 2017.

"Many automakers are looking for signs of market stability as consumers continue to head toward trucks and SUVs," said Jeff Conrad, general manager of the Honda Division, in a statement. "But cars are still a compelling choice for many, especially when you have the right formula."

Amid the decline, consumers continue to migrate to crossovers and SUVs. J.D. Power says light trucks accounted for 61.5 percent of new-vehicle sales in the first two weeks of March. That would mark the highest level ever for the month and the ninth straight month that crossovers, SUVs, vans and pickups represented more than 60 percent of U.S. light-vehicle volume.

Ahead of today’s reports, volume was projected to rise 7 percent at General Motors, 4.9 percent at Honda, 2.8 percent at Nissan, 8.6 percent at Volkswagen/Audi and 0.4 percent at Fiat Chrysler, a survey of analysts by Bloomberg found. Deliveries were projected to drop 5.9 percent at Ford Motor, 1.2 percent at Toyota Motor and 3.8 percent ay Hyundai/Kia.

J.D. Power and LMC Automotive say per-vehicle incentive levels were on track to set a record for March at $3,768.While favorable deals, low financing rates, attractive lease deals and a solid economy continue to support sales, rising interest rates and falling used-vehicle prices threaten growth in 2017 following seven straight years of expansion.

Edmunds says the average interest rate on a new-vehicle loan reached 5.02 percent in March -- the highest rate in seven years -- and up from 4.87 percent in February and 4.80 percent in March of 2016. The last time the average interest rate on a new-vehicle loan crossed the 5 percent mark was in February 2010, Edmunds said.

"The tide is turning for the auto industry," said Jessica Caldwell, head of industry analysis at Edmunds. "The training wheels that were put in place during the recession are coming off, and the industry is now being challenged to see if it can find the right balance."

Rising inventories

The average number of days a new vehicle sat on a dealer lot before being sold reached 70 in the first 19 days of March, J.D. Power says. That’s the highest level for any month since days-to-turn hit 80 in July 2009, during the Great Recession.

March was the ninth consecutive month in which new-vehicle incentives average at least 10 percent of average transaction prices, which hit a March high of $31,074, according to J.D. Power.

ALG estimates incentives rose 13 percent from March 2016 to $3,511 last month, with General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Nissan and Ford being the top spenders. (See chart below.)

Among major automakers, the biggest rise, percentagewise, in incentives last month occurred at Subaru, Honda, GM and Nissan. BMW is the only one of the 12 largest automakers whose incentives declined last month from March 2016.

“Car manufacturers have capacitized to a 19 million or 20 million SAAR,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a report last week that forecast steep declines of 25 to 50 percent in used car prices over the next two years. “At this point in the cycle, we start seeing more money 'on the hood' to move the metal.”

GS69

http://www.hybridcars.com/march-2017-dashboard/

March 2017 Dashboardby Jeff Cobb April 4, 2017

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The HybridCars.com monthly sales Dashboard is a collaboration of HybridCars.com and Baum & Associates, a Michigan-based market research firm focusing on automotive issues including the hybrid and electric vehicle market.Overall sales for March were down from a year ago although they were up from the first two months of this year, since March is the beginning of the “spring selling season.”Sales in each of the categories were also up in March, and year-to-date sales were up compared to last year for all categories except diesels.

All-Electric

Sales for full electric vehicles were up from last year on the strength of the Tesla Model X, which was still in launch mode a year ago. The Model S also had a good month, although sales for the quarter were slightly below a year ago. The Nissan Leaf had a decent month, although it will not reach strong levels until the end of the year when a new version appears. The Chevy Bolt has been consistent this year, but sales of 1,000 per month are not that strong even as the vehicle is available in more states. Pricing is unusual, with some vehicles being sold with discounts and some being sold at a premium. Volume should increase throughout the year as availability increases across the country. But, volumes remain below what the vehicle should reach as it is a very strong product with respect to capability. The BMW i3 had a good month, with availability still being a key issue.

Plug-in Hybrids

Plug-in hybrids had a good month as compared to last month and year-ago, as the growth rates for the category were greater than the overall market. The Volt had a very strong month, although the total fell short of volumes achieved late last year. Volumes of the Prius Prime continue to grow and appear to have reached a “normal” level of over 1,500 a month. The Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid is new to the category, although volumes are very modest. Volumes for many of the other vehicles in the category including those that are new are limited.

SEE ALSO: February 2017 Dashboard

Hybrids

Hybrids had a better month than in February, and sales for the quarter were up from a year ago. The Fusion hybrid had its best month ever and paced the category (incentives were helpful), ahead of the Prius Liftback (which had a very poor month). Both the Kia Niro and Hyundai Ioniq are new and the Niro appears to be a strong player, in part because it has many of the characteristics of a crossover. While the category leaders did well, much of the growth was negated by declines of many of the other hybrid vehicles. As usual, the RAV4 also did quite well as this hybrid is in a popular segment and is obviously reaching its intended market. While Toyota continues to pace the segment, its share of 55 percent is below the usual result, suggesting that new products from other makers are starting to displace Toyota’s dominance.

Diesels

Of course, the diesel segment continues to struggle although a technical fix has been reached for a small number of the VW diesels that were forced off the market in Fall 2015. Since the Ram Pickup diesel remains off the market (and in fact the investigation is getting more complicated as more federal agencies join the process), the Ford Transit diesel is dominating the category. The Colorado and Canyon diesels are well ahead of last year’s results, although volumes are still modest. While volumes are modest, Jaguar Land Rover is notable in that it is offering a number of products in diesel form.

March 2017 Hybrid Car Sales Numbers

Trexus

Tesla is now worth more than Ford and I just checked it's also worth more than GM.

GM worth about $49.61 billion
Ford worth about $45.19 billion
Tesla worth about $53.07 billion

http://www.counterman.com/telsa-now-...34&bid=1714198
https://www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-o...lue-1491226526

Still nothing compared to Toyota which is worth about $175.21 billion...

G Star

iTrader: (2)

Sorry, mainstream buyers don't even know what "engine spec" is. These details are not important, exactly how much horsepower they have is not important, the age of their exact model of engine and/or transmission is not important. Casual mainstream buyers don't have the time to worry about these details. Car enthusiasts care.

To think that your mindset is the exact same mindset that average car buyers have is pretty self-deluding.

There is a thread in car chat where a chart broke down the sales of GS throughout it's life time, the sales numbers at this time of it's current iteration, aren't unrealistic.

RNM GS3

Again I disagree.
This may be true for people shopping for RAV4 or Camry who priotirize reliability and value.

For luxury car buyers - they WANT new stuff and innovation. They may not know the exact HP specs but they KNOW if the new car has a new turbo engine making 300, 400, 500hp etc.
I assist friends/family/co-workers all the time in car shopping, just as many other members here, so I have a good feel for what a regular person looks for.

why are these GS owners that are coming of their leases not getting a new GS then?
obviously they are not that impressed with refresh therefore new engines and keeping the product fresh and exciting is very important especially with so many new players in the luxury segment.

JDR76

Because the aggressive lease deals offered on the GS during the '13, '14, and '15 model years are no longer largely available. So if you had, say a '13 GS and took advantage of the low lease rates offered at the time, and now your lease is up and you'd like a new one, you may not be willing to pay another $100-$200 a month for basically the same car. Might as well try something else.

RNM GS3

If you think GS deals are bad, you will be shocked at the new 5 and E leases.

The GS is still much less than those so i can't really buy that argument as the cause.
Usually after refresh sales tend to pickup and they would have if it had new engine with 350hp+ and some other new goodies.

mk416

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=762699

I think GS fares well on its own and of its own merit against the competitions, but the sales numbers don't help with its livelihood. We will see, though. GS has always been my favorite sedan because it's big enough and not "old" enough for me, if you know what I mean.

With that being said, I'd take either GS or 5-series over any other comparable models in the market today.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

737 GS?! didn't lexus keep saying it was a supply issue the past couple of months? so are they still trying to use that excuse?

i like the GS and lexus but they really need to do something to thrive the brand. i think the numbers are showing that they are not doing the right things to align with the taste of current buyers. their company culture need a better shake-up

rominl

iTrader: (4)

true that a lot of the 13-15 GS owners now have very bad taste in their mouths seeing how their lease price jump up by 100 bucks if they go with the new GS. first of all for that, lexus shot themselves in the feet and they have no one else to blame but themselves. they wanted the mid-size crown and they threw out their bottom line on the car. it probably got them some glory on the GS for those years but they are tasting the result of that now.

but still, even with the higher GS lease price, leasing a GS350 is still cheaper than leasing a comparable E300 or 535i. i know very well because i had a 2015 gs, now 2016 gs, and i priced all competitors out. GS is still the cheapest and you get a lot of car for the money. competitors could easily be 100 bucks more than the gs.

don't forget that there is the gs200t now which is cheaper and supposedly should help on the lease, but clearly it fails. the reason could be the look, drive train, lack of marketing, etc... but bottom line is lexus lost their bottom line with 13-15 gs, now they ran out of gas, and they are in trouble with the sales number.

i just hope this doesn't become excuse for management to really axe the gs. that would be very sad

GS69

Yes, last I read Lexus said that the supply would be fixed & sales back to normal in March - maybe April? Still do not think that the GS is going to get axed but it is a bit worrisome that it has fallen so far down the line in the segment:

Eclass 4,690 +14.5%
5series 3,161 +.1%
A6 1,576 +8.5%
XTS 1,484 -34%
G80 1,347
Q70 1,072 +85.8%
Continental 963
CTS 882 -41.2%
GS 737 -51.6%
S90 448
RLX 110 -15.4%; hybrid 30 +57.9%

bolido

What kind of fire sale is Infiniti doing with the Q70?? Huge growth for the RLX Hybrid!

RNM GS3

Q70 outselling the GS???
Infiniti must be giving it away for $4XX/month.

Genesis G80 doing great.

5 series will be growing as supply increases and more models are out.
You can pretty much get it around invoice too - soo $600 to $700/month

JDR76

Wait, which is it? 5 Series leases are terrible or you can get one near invoice at $600-$700 a month?