Toyota and Nissan surpassed the industry’s 6.8 percent increase in month-over-month sales in July, which CNW Research attributed to heavy promotions of lease deals and used-car trade-in programs by both automakers.
Toyota’s month-over-month sales increased by 20.4 percent, while Nissan’s jumped by 27.5 percent. Both manufacturers’ car and truck segments outpaced last month’s industry marks by significant amounts. The total industry car sales increased 5.5 percent in July, while total industry truck sales jumped by 8.2 percent.
CNW’s Art Spinella wrote that only the Kia car segment, which achieved a 20 percent sales increase, performed well based on “solid marketing and clever advertising.”
Among the Detroit Three, the Buick car and Cadillac truck segments reported sales increases of 32 percent and 42.5 percent, respectively.
The only Ford nameplate to report a month-to-month sales increase was the Lincoln truck segment.
The European brands had mixed sales results with increases from BMW car, BMW MINI, Saab car, Porsche car and truck, and Volkswagen car and truck. The increases were more of a result of lower June sales numbers than an actual jump in demand, wrote CNW’s Spinella.
The overall sales results illustrate that the market is responsive to manufacturer incentives. “While a majority of automakers have pulled back in general, consumers are focused on those who remain in the incentive game,” Spinella added.
He added that Toyota’s sales figures indicate a strong response to its incentives, but said it won’t help the company’s bottom line in the future.
“After months of dark clouds because of recalls and government accusations, the upturn for the top Asian brand is the first step in ‘clearing its name,’” Spinella continued. “We expect the incentive levels for Toyota to return to earth as soon as memories fade.”
