This Week in "Duh": Domestic Auto Sales = FAIL

I was inclined to just let the title of this post speak for itself, but I've got some time (ha) on my  hands, so what the hell (via CNNMoney)

Ford Motor reported that its U.S. sales tumbled 28% in June, kicking off what could turn out to be the weakest month for auto sales in 16 years.

Oh, realllly?  Go oooonnn!

Ford, the No. 3 automaker in terms of U.S. sales, saw sales of its SUVs plunge by more than half and pickups and other trucks fell more than a third.

Given the company's red-hot vehicle line-up, and the outstanding fleet fuel mileage, this news comes as nothing short of shocking to this author.  Thankfully, the brain trust over in Dearborn is on top of it, nbd:

Even crossovers, a sign of strength in the light truck segment until recently, saw sales off 18% from a year earlier, as buyers went searching for more fuel efficient vehicles in the face of record $4 gas prices. But Ford apparently didn't have the car models buyers were looking for, as its car sales fell 12%.

Some of the weak car sales could be due to growing consumer worries about their jobs and the economy. But automakers also suggested it could be due to the short supply of many fuel-efficient models after a rush to buy those vehicles in May.

"That limited supply we believed had an impact," said George Pipas, the director of sales analysis for Ford

In fairness to Ford's delusional explanation, they weren't the only domestic automaker to feel the pain.  Privately-held Chrysler's overall sales fell 36% in June; interestingly enough car sales were down 49% while truck sales were only down 30%.  That distribution is likely due to the fact that chrysler (when gas was hovering around $2/gallon) enjoyed a fair amount of success with its large vehicles such as the Charger, 300C, etc, which have likely fallen out of favor with national gas prices aroudn $4/gallon, as well as with their aging design.

Crosstown rival GM saw sales drop 18.5% in June, with the biggest single-brand dissapointment coming from (unsurprisingly) Buick, which saw sales drop 41%. 

So, to tally up the scores for the "Big Three" the past month, we have (non-volume adjusted) sales down ~27% from the same month last year.  Strange, when the majority of your revenue comes from gas-guzzler trucks, SUV's, and large cars, that sales take a massive hit when gas prices jump 100%+.

Duh.

(Expect a more detailed discussion of the woes faced by the automakers in another, slightly-less-sarcastic post sometime soon)

Comments

[publius]

Collapsing US auto sales in the face of high gas prices and vastly more fuel-efficient Japanese competition? Gah! If only this had happened before so that we could have been better prepared and less reliant on impractical gas guzzlers!

[Anal_yst]

@ publius
If only...
What's that line about those who don't learn from history again haha

[Chuck]

Ford FTL! lololol

[reverse cell phone lookup]

Not to mention (and someone correct me if I'm wrong),