Though battered by the recall of millions of vehicles and revelations that it failed to fix a deadly defect in its ignition switches, General Motors maintained a monthly winning streak in selling vehicles since March.þþThat streak is over.þþDespite an auto industry that rumbled forward with 6 percent American sales growth in August compared with a year ago, selling 1.6 million vehicles, and a seasonally adjusted annual estimate topping 17.5 million — the highest since January 2006 — G.M. was left out of the party.þþIts sales dropped 1.2 percent in August compared with last year. Particularly hard hit were its passenger cars: They fell nearly 9 percent, and their market share dropped from 7.2 percent to 6.3 percent for the month. Even G.M. trucks, which buoyed the company by growing 4 percent, slipped in market share as Chrysler’s Jeep and Ram brands surged.þþA number of mass-market cars that G.M. relies on for volume simply did not deliver in August. Sales of the Chevrolet Impala fell 26 percent, the Cruze dropped 2 percent and the Malibu decreased 3 percent. Even the subcompact Spark, which has done well this year over all, slumped in August, falling 36 percent.þþBuick, which had performed well this year, faltered as well, down 10 percent. Cars like the LaCrosse (down 36 percent) and Verano (down 12 percent) overwhelmed gains by models like the Encore S.U.V. (up 13 percent).þþCadillac continued its rocky trajectory, having fallen 18 percent, with the brand’s much-marketed ATS and CTS sedans both down double-digits. The ATS, which was intended to compete with the likes of the BMW 3 Series, has yet to catch on, weighed down by a high sticker price and consumers who have yet to embrace Cadillac over German competitors.þþOnly the company’s GMC brand charted positive territory in August, up 10 percent from last year.þþJesse Toprak, chief analyst for Cars.com, said that while the true impact on consumers of G.M.’s recall problems was hard to quantify, some customers could be growing wary as summer comes to an end.þþ“A lot of undecided buyers out there may have chosen to go elsewhere because of the recall news,” Mr. Toprak said.þþBut the increasing popularity of sport utility vehicles and trucks means G.M. most likely escaped August with some sizable profits, he said, because the company can keep making money from those high-margin trucks, offsetting slower sales of lower-profit passenger cars.þþColin Langan, an auto analyst with the investment bank UBS, said G.M. investors did not panic on Wednesday because they liked the strong truck performance, and the profits it generates, despite the lackluster passenger car numbers.þþ“Right now, the trucks are probably more important than the overall sales volume,” he said.þþG.M. said it was happy with its August sales performance. Kurt McNeil, vice president of American sales operations, said in a statement that the company “had an outstanding month with trucks” and that “we see a strong fall selling season ahead for G.M. and the industry.”þþG.M. stock closed at $34.47 a share on Wednesday, down 0.95 percent.þþBut as buyers around the country flocked to showrooms last month, wooed by clearance sales of 2014 models, some analysts said G.M. most likely lost ground in August because its incentives were not as generous as those of competitors.þþ“They haven’t been as aggressive,” said Larry Dominique, an analyst for TrueCar, adding that his company’s numbers showed G.M. below the industry average in discounting last month.þþHe said that compared with Toyota, which had significant decreases in sales after its unintended acceleration scandal, G.M. has not had that kind of consumer abandonment, despite a lagging August, and that one month was not enough to see cracks in its armor.þþOn the other end of the spectrum, Chrysler posted yet another month of huge sales growth.þþThe Chrysler Group’s total sales in August increased 20 percent compared with a year ago, to 198,379 vehicles.þþThat success was powered again by strong performance of its Ram trucks and Jeeps. Ram pickup truck sales rose 33 percent, the best August since 2003, and Jeep brand sales increased 49 percent, their best August ever.þþMr. Dominique said Chrysler was not shy about incentives, and has recently been offering discounts and aggressive finance packages in an effort to woo buyers to its side.þþHe said the ratio of purchase price to incentives at Chrysler remained one of the highest in the industry.þþJessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com, called Chrysler’s performance “an impressive streak for a company that was all but left for dead five years ago.”þþAt Ford Motor, sales stayed essentially flat, up about half a percent in August compared with last year. Nissan reported sales up 12 percent, and Toyota gained 6 percent. Volkswagen-branded vehicles continued their struggle in the United States, as sales fell 13 percent.þþ
Source: NY Times
