Sales for the month of October 2008 were not good. The auto industry in the U.S. has found a way to slide further into oblivion with only a few bright spots from Audi and MINI, the latter of which enjoyed monster sales last month we suspect on account of greater production capacity this year versus October 2007.
While all the major players were down, General Motors, the largest of them all, was hit the hardest. Its sales volume for October 2008 fell 45% compared to last year. It went from selling an average of 11,923 cars per day in October 2007 to just 6,318 last month. Each of its brands were down, with HUMMER taking the Biggest Loser crown (yet again). The real story, however, is how close behind the other brands were, with Cadillac falling 55.1%, Buick 46.3%, Chevy 40.3%, GMC 52.5%, Pontiac 48.2% and Saturn 54.6%.
What can account for GM's entire brand portfolio taking such a hit? GMAC, the financing arm of General Motors that's majority owned by Cerberus. Halfway through the month GMAC decreed it would only lend money only to buyers with a credit score above 700, which effectively wiped out in-house financing for the majority of GM customers. While dealers could still work with banks to secure financing (and were encouraged to do so), it appears the damage wrought by GMAC could not be undone.
| BY THE NUMBERS - October 2008 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Vol. % Change | Total Sales 10/08 | Total Sales 10/07 | DSR % Change | Daily Avg. 10/08 | Daily Avg. 10/07 |
| Acura | -21.56% | 10,108 | 12,886 | -24.46% | 374 | 496 |
| Audi | 0.3% | 7,443 | 7,420 | -3.4% | 276 | 285 |
| BMW | -13.9% | 20,203 | 23,451 | -17% | 748 | 902 |
| Buick | -46.3% | 7,642 | 14,231 | -48.3% | 283 | 547 |
| Cadillac | -55.1% | 9,541 | 21,267 | -56.8% | 353 | 818 |
| Chevrolet | -40.3% | 107,313 | 179,825 | -42.5% | 3,975 | 6,916 |
| Chrysler | -50.8% | 19,903 | 40,440 | -52.6% | 737 | 1,555 |
| Dodge | -27% | 53,267 | 73,020 | -29.75% | 1,973 | 2,808 |
| Ford | -27.9% | 114,969 | 159,361 | -30.5% | 4,258 | 6,129 |
| GMC | -52.5% | 21,109 | 44,456 | -54.3% | 782 | 1,710 |
| Honda | -25.66% | 75,756 | 101,913 | -28.41% | 2,806 | 3,920 |
| HUMMER | -64.6% | 1,368 | 3,864 | -66% | 51 | 149 |
| Hyundai | -31.1% | 20,820 | 30,232 | -33.7% | 771 | 1,162 |
| Infiniti | -28.5% | 7,112 | 9,954 | -31.2% | 263 | 383 |
| Jeep | -32.9% | 21,360 | 31,856 | -35.4% | 791 | 1,225 |
| Kia | -38.5% | 15,483 | 25,185 | -40.8% | 573 | 969 |
| Lexus | -35.2% | 16,283 | 25,119 | -37.6% | 603 | 966 |
| Lincoln | -27.7% | 7,399 | 10,229 | -30.3% | 274 | 393 |
| Mazda | -25.9% | 16,442 | 22,201 | -28.7% | 609 | 854 |
| Mercedes-Benz | -34.3% | 14,996 | 22,820 | -36.7% | 555 | 878 |
| Mercury | -47.4% | 6,753 | 12,844 | -49.4% | 250 | 494 |
| MINI | 56.4% | 5,272 | 3,370 | 50.6% | 195 | 130 |
| Mitsubishi | -19.3% | 7,486 | 9,280 | -22.3% | 277 | 357 |
| Nissan | -33.5% | 49,833 | 74,992 | -36% | 1,846 | 2,884 |
| Pontiac | -48.2% | 13,054 | 25,182 | -50% | 483 | 969 |
| Porsche | -50.1% | 1,427 | 2,862 | -52% | 53 | 110 |
| Saab | -13.2% | 1,975 | 2,275 | -16.4% | 73 | 88 |
| Saturn | -54.6% | 8,583 | 18,908 | -56.3% | 318 | 727 |
| Subaru | NA | |||||
| Suzuki | -46.7% | 3,482 | 6,536 | -48.7% | 129 | 251 |
| Toyota | -21.3% | 135,818 | 172,473 | -24.2% | 5,030 | 6,634 |
| Volkswagen | -7.9% | 15,889 | 17,260 | -11.4% | 588 | 664 |
| Volvo | -52.1% | 3,717 | 7,761 | -53.9% | 138 | 299 |
| COMPANIES | ||||||
| BMW Group | -5% | 25,475 | 26,821 | -8.5% | 944 | 1,032 |
| Chrysler LLC | -34.9% | 94,530 | 145,316 | -37.4% | 3,501 | 5,589 |
| FoMoCo | -30.2% | 132,838 | 190,195 | -32.7% | 4,920 | 7,315 |
| General Motors | -45% | 170,585 | 310,008 | -47% | 6,318 | 11,923 |
| Honda Amer. | -25.2% | 85,864 | 114,799 | -28% | 3,180 | 4,415 |
| Nissan NA | -33% | 56,945 | 84,947 | -35.4% | 2,109 | 3,267 |
| Toyota Mo Co | -23% | 152,101 | 197,592 | -25.9% | 5,633 | 7,600 |
