Surprising USA Car Sales Trends

WHAT HAPPENED TO USA CAR SALES IN 20 YEARS?
as noted by Torrey H. Brinkley

A friend has done some good record-keeping based on auto & truck sales data gleaned from "Automotive News USA" . How revealing to look at sales charts for all models of vehicles sold in the USA for the last 20 years. Lots has changed in the automotive landscape, and now that gas prices are up to $4 a gallon in parts of California for premium fuel, more changes still might appear. After looking at model by model charts, this reader came away with a few observations:

1) Acura's 11 different models have had widely different years when sales peaked. Total sales were just 127,000 in 1988; dropping to 106,000 in 1997; but up to 178,000 in 2007 (thanks to strong sales of 2 different SUV models).

2) Audi sold only 23,000 cars in 1988 in USA ( suffering from that weird accelerator pedal issue); by 1997 sales crept up to 34,000 total. But lots of advertising hype, engineering advances and higher horsepower models have brought 71,000 sales in 2007.

3) BMW once caught Mercedes in USA sales, and are still significant for pricey vehicles. Some 295,000 BMW cars & SUVs sold in 2007. Only 130,000 were sold in 1998. In 1988 they only managed to sell 81,000 car models.

4) Buick has sold 15 different models since 1988. Peak sales years are different for each model. In 1988 total sales in USA were 500,000 units; by 2007 it was down to 183,000 sold, in spite of Tiger Woods' endorsements.

5) Cadillac had 3 different models (of 6 total) that had their best sales years in 1988. Likewise 3 separate models sold most ever in 2005 (out of 10 total). Caddy had 200,000 total sales in 2007 of cars & luxury SUVs; whereas they sold 267, 000 cars only in 1988.

6) Chrysler saw 1988 as its only year to have top sales for 3 unique models. Showrooms pushed out 531,000 sales by 2007 (with a wide variety of vehicle choices inherited from both Plymouth and Mercedes). This was much higher than the 250,000 they sold back in 1988, and only 254,000 back in 1997.

7) Dodge has had 20 different model names sold in the USA since 1988 that are no longer being marketed in 2007. Last year sales of the Ram pickup were off 90,000 from its peak sales year; Dakota was off 2/3 from best year; Caravan was down 120,000; Durango sales were down 3/4 from best year; Viper sales were down 3/4. Yet total sales last year were over 1 million units (including trucks & SUVs)!

8) Ford has 6 car models sold in 1988 that are no longer marketed . Only Mustang sales are still strong as they were in 1988 and 1997. Top sales years for their cars were 1988 and 1990. They make their money on trucks, which sold 1,450,000 in 2007, excluding their bigger trucks, F-250 & larger Super Duty models.

9) Honda saw 2006 and 2007 as best sales years for 5 different models. Accord and Civic are very long-running models in their lineup, still selling very well.

10) Nissan sales were down in all models for 2007, except for Altima and the new Versa. Too many of their vehicles look copied from their business partner, Renault (of France). Nissan still sold 910, 000 vehicles in USA.

11) Oldsmobile enjoyed 1988 with top sales for 6 different models. Evidently GM brass did not care, and decided to ax their lineup soon after that.

12) Pontiac had 2007 as a down year for every model in their lineup, while selling 356,000 total vehicles. They sold 725,000 vehicles back in 1988. Their foray into vans and SUVs has not proved successful, unlike many European and Asian marques.

13) Toyota had 9 different models with their best ever sales showing in 2006 or 2007. Only Avalon, Tacoma,Land Cruiser, 4 Runner and Sequoia were way off. Total sales for Toyota in '07 was double that of 1988, as they attempt to pass worldwide sales of MOPAR (done), then Ford (a year ago) and soon General Motors.

--In general, we see that:
++ Vehicle sales in the USA have radically increased by the Asian marques of Toyota and Honda, with their luxury nameplates catching some of that magic (Lexus and Acura).
++Loss of sales has been noted by almost all domestic manufacturers, most notibly with their sedan sales.
++Even though there are some 90+ SUV models on the market, not all have been successful on the sales floor. At least 21 have been dropped by manufacturers from across the spectrum.
++Pickup truck sales are generally strong when tied to work-related requirements, and much less so for recreational purposes than in years past (as small to mid-size pickup sales are dropping like a rock for every make).
++Consistent improvement in quality and engineering for long-running models has been more productive than simply introducing one new model after another.
++Even though station wagon sales are still not as strong as in the 1960s and 70s, the new cross-over wagon-SUV seems to be a very popular vehicle choice for families who wish to haul passengers & some cargo.