TREND INSIGHTS Automotive Sales Analysis

Transcription

1 TREND INSIGHTS Automotive Sales Analysis Feb. 2016

2 U.S. AUTOMOTIVE SALES SETS A RECORD Automotive News Data Center reported that U.S. auto sales reached all-time high in 2015 selling million light trucks and vehicles, eclipsing the old mark set in 2000 when million were sold. By comparison, in 2009 at the height of the economic recession, only 10.4 million vehicles were sold. (At that time both GM and Chrysler declared bankruptcy and received government bailouts). The 2015 sales represent an increase of 5.7% from the previous year, it marked the sixth consecutive year of annual increase in light vehicle sales. The last time the industry experienced six consecutive years of sales growth was in the 1920 s. U.S. Light Vehicle Sales (in millions) Source: SME.org & Automotive News 2 TRENDS INSIGHTS

3 Reasons for the Strong Automotive Market: There were several reasons for such a strong year in sales. The price of gas continues to drop, according to the AAA, averaging only $2.00 a gallon by yearend nationwide. Another factor was the interest rates hovering around zero. By comparison, in 2000, the interest rates averaged 6.2%. A stronger economy, also helped boost sales, with more people working (The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 2.65 million jobs were added in 2015, many of them under the age of 35), consumers could now afford to buy new cars and many needed an automobile to commute. Additionally, there are a lot of older cars on the road, according to a survey from IHS Automotive, the average age of a vehicle on the road in 2015 was a record high 11.5 years and needed to be replaced. (Polk reports the replacement rate for vehicles increases notably when they reach 13 years). Another reason for the strong year was the popularity of leasing, according to Edmonds, leases on new cars accounted for 29% of all U.S. retail sales, up 2% from In contrast, the leasing figure in 2005 was 16.6%. To further emphasize the strong automotive market, the Wall Street Journal reported, Americans, in total, spent approximately $570 billion in new cars in Additionally, CNN/Money said in 2015 the balance on car loans exceeded $1 trillion for the first time. Crossover SUV s Popular: With the cost of gas dropping, one of the more popular car type sold in 2015 were SUV s. By fourth quarter 2015, Kelly Blue reported that small sized ( crossover ) SUV s garnered a 14% market share, greater than both small and midsize sedans. The top selling model was the Honda CR-V with about 900 units sold each day of the year. The Honda CR-V outsold Honda Civic for the second straight year. Another popular crossover SUV model was the Nissan Rogue which reported an increase in sales of 44%. Fuel Efficient Cars Not As Popular: With the cost of gas dropping the sales of the fuel efficient small cars, hybrids and electric all decreased as consumers saw less of a need for them. According to the Associated Press, The Toyota Prius hybrid had a fall-off in cars sold of 11% in 2015 to 185,000 models sold. The Nissan Leaf an electric car had sales decline by 43% in 2015 to 17,000 models sold. The Chevrolet Sonic, a top subcompact car reported a decrease in sales of 31% compared to the previous year. TRENDS INSIGHTS 3

4 Best Selling Vehicles: The ten best-selling car models all sold over 300,000 units in For the sixth consecutive year Ford s F-Series light trucks was the top selling car model. In 2015 Ford sold 780,354 F Series trucks which, according to USNews.com, comes to more than one every minute. Ford revamped its F-150 model during the year partially adding aluminum to cut weight. According to Autodata, the sales of light trucks grew by 13% in 2015 to 9.7 million units. The top three selling vehicles in 2015 were light trucks. Conversely, the sales of cars dropped by 2% selling 7.7 million vehicles. This marked the sixth straight year that light trucks have outsold cars. Top Selling Car Models 2015 (Units) Ford F Series Chevrolet Silverado Dodge Ram Toyota Camry Toyota Corolla Honda Accord Honda CR-V Honda Civic Nissan Altima Toyota RAV4 780, , , , , , , , , ,412 Source: Automotive News A Banner Year for Carmakers: According to Automotive News, General Motors, led all automotive companies in 2015, selling over three million cars and trucks, a 5% increase of over Ford Motor, Toyota Motor and Fiat Chrysler all sold over two million cars in Honda, Nissan and Hyundai-Kia all sold over one million automobiles in The fastest growing car seller was Subaru who reported a sales increase of 13.5% when 2015 is compared to the previous year. The three top selling carmakers, General Motors, Ford Motor and Toyota Motor accounted for nearly 47% of all cars sold in TRENDS INSIGHTS

5 Top Selling Carmakers in the U.S Car Makers % Change General Motors 3,082,366 2,935, % Ford Motor 2,603,082 2,471, % Toyota Motor 2,499,313 2,373, % Fiat Chrysler 2,243,907 2,090, % Honda (American) 1,586,551 1,540, % Nissan North America 1,484,918 1,386, % Hyundai-Kia 1,387,528 1,305, % Subaru 582, , % VW Group 555, , % BMW Group 405, , % Daimler AG 380, , % Mazda 319, , % Total 17,470,659 16,522, % Source: Automotive News How 2016 Sales Shape Up: Looking ahead industry analysts forecast continued sales growth in the market but a slower pace. One reason is the millions of vehicles that are coming-off two or three year leases and entering the used car market. Nonetheless, even a 3% increase in sales in 2016, roughly half of the growth of 2015, will push sales past the 18 million mark for the first time. Industry analysts project sales to level off in the years beyond that. TRENDS INSIGHTS 5

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