US vehicle sales show significant decrease

The end of the slump in the automotive sector appears far from over as total sales of light duty vehicles in the USA during May 2009 were revealed to have decreased by 33.7 per cent compared to the same month in the previous year.

Sales of passenger cars fell by 38.6 per cent to 488,045 units; while sales of light trucks fell by 27.2 per cent to 437,779. Hybrids were not immune from the slump either as sales dropped by 28.5 per cent to 25,693 units.

However, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. For one, the May 2009 results were the highest of the year so far. Secondly, hybrids held a 2.8 per cent share of new vehicle sales - the best monthly result so far this year.

Here is how each manufacturer faired:

Chrysler: The manufacturer saw its sales drop by 47 per cent compared to May 2008 to just 79,010 units sold. May did however represent its best retail month of the year so far with 74,741 units sold.

Ford: Retaining the number two position in the US market, Ford (along with its brands Lincoln and Mercury) reported sales of 155,954 - down 24.3 per cent compared to the previous year. This also represented Ford’s highest market share in three years with sales up 20 per cent compared to April 2009. Sales of the company’s hybrids totalled 3,906 setting three new sales records.

General Motors: Despite concerns about its future, GM performed relatively well with 190,881 light duty vehicle sales - a decrease of 29 per cent. It actually gained share for the second consecutive month. A total of 1,739 GM hybrid vehicles were delivered - that’s a 39 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

Honda: Total vehicle sales in May reached 98,334 - that’s down 41.5 per cent year-on-year. The Accord was the volume leader with 22,597 units sold while combined sales of the Civic and Civic Hybrid dropped 61 per cent. The new Honda Insight did help to boost sales however - 2,780 models were sold meaning hybrid sales of Honda cars increased by 3.5 per cent.

Nissan: Sales fell by 33.1 per cent for Nissan North America, down to 67,489 units. The Altima remained the volume leader although sales of the Altima Hybrid dropped by 78.5 per cent to just 345 units.

Toyota: Vehicle sales in May fell by 40.7 per cent to 152,583 units for Toyota. The Camry and Camry Hybrid were the volume leaders with monthly sales of 31,325 units while the Prius posted May sales of 10,091 units - down 32.8 per cent. Total hybrid sales in May reached 14,846 - down 43 per cent year on year.

Details…