August Sales a Pleasant Surprise, Edmunds.com Reports

Edmunds.com estimates that the industry will sell 1.29 million units in August, keeping the industry on its 14.5 million-unit pace.

by Staff

August 30, 2012

2 min to read

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Edmunds.com forecasts that 1.29 million new cars will be sold in August for an estimated SAAR of 14.5 million light vehicles. If the numbers hold, August will be the second best month of 2012 in terms of SAAR, and the third best month in terms of unit sales.

“Sales showed signs of flattening out in the first couple months of summer, so August’s sales figures will come as a nice surprise for everyone in the auto industry,” says Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com senior analyst. “Automakers and dealers have been very creative in packaging hidden incentives in recent weeks, and, when you combine that with the sell-down of popular 2012 model year vehicles, there have been some nice deals available to car buyers.”

Earlier this month, Edmunds.com’s Vice Chairman Jeremy Anwyl shed more light on these “hidden incentives” — which include stair-step programs and one-day demo sales — in a commentary posted to Edmunds.com’s Industry Center.

SALES VOLUME FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER

Sales Volume	August-12 Forecast	August-11	July-12	Change from August 2011*	Change from July 2012
GM	232,527	218,479	201,237	6.4%	15.5%
Ford	191,918	174,804	173,482	9.8%	10.6%
Toyota	183,562	129,482	164,898	41.8%	11.3%
Chrysler	145,355	130,119	126,089	11.7%	15.3%
Honda	132,537	82,321	116,944	61.0%	13.3%
Nissan	103,071	91,541	98,341	12.6%	4.8%
Industry	1,287,603	1,071,783	1,153,242	20.1%	11.7%

*NOTE: August 2012 had 27 selling days; August 2011 had 26

Edmunds.com’s sales forecast for August would represent an 11.7 percent increase from July 2012, and a 20.1 percent increase (unadjusted for number of selling days) from August 2011. Retail SAAR will come in at 12 million vehicles in August, with fleet transactions accounting for 17 percent of total sales. An estimated 3.1 million used cars will also be sold in August, for a SAAR of 36.9 million, up from July’s SAAR of 36.3 million.

Edmunds.com projects that the top automakers will see little shift in market share in August. General Motors is expected to realize the growth (+0.6 percentage points) from July to August, while Nissan should slide the most (-0.5 percentage points), the vehicle information site reported.

Market Share Forecast, By Manufacturer

Market Share	August 12 Forecast	August-11	July-12	Change from August 2011 (Percentage pts.)	Change from July 2012 (Percentage pts.)
GM	18.1%	20.4%	17.4%	-2.3%	0.6%
Ford	14.9%	16.3%	15.0%	-1.4%	-0.1%
Toyota	14.3%	12.1%	14.3%	2.2%	0.0%
Chrysler	11.3%	12.1%	10.9%	-0.9%	0.4%
Honda	10.3%	7.7%	10.1%	2.6%	0.2%
Nissan	8.0%	8.5%	8.5%	-0.5%	-0.5%