Imports Soar as New Car Sales Rise 5% in July
Sales of imported cars boomed in July while domestic cars sold at a steady pace, sending total new car sales for the month up 5.4% over the 1985 level, the auto makers reported Tuesday.
Despite the series of price increases by Japanese manufacturers that has been testing consumers, imports posted their best July ever, claiming 31.5% of the U.S. market. Foreign manufacturers sold an estimated 299,000 cars last month, up 12.7% from the 265,380 sold in July, 1985. There were 26 selling days in July both this year and last.
The top three Japanese auto makers reported mixed results for the month, with Toyota’s sales up an estimated 1.8%, Nissan’s off 5.6% and Honda’s up 15.6%.
All of the major Japanese auto makers posted sales declines in June, prompting industry observers to speculate that the price hikes were beginning to take their toll. Their sales results in July, however, raise questions as to what effect, if any, the higher prices are actually having.
“Japanese car sales are not as good as they could be, but it’s not drastic,” commented David Healy, an auto analyst with Drexel Burnham Lambert. “It does not seem the big price increases are having that much effect.”
New Entries Helped
New entries in the import market were largely responsible for pushing import sales to a record total in July. Hyundai, the South Korean auto maker that began selling its subcompact Excel in the United States last February, said it sold 19,690 units last month. Yugo America reported that it sold 3,020 of its Yugoslavia-built compacts in July.
Sales of domestically produced cars rose 4.3% in the final 10-day period of July. General Motors said its sales were up 3.5% in the July 21-31 period; Ford reported an increase of 3.2%, and Chrysler’s sales rose 8.9%.
For the month, domestic car sales of 648,667 were up 2.4% from July, 1985, when 633,527 were sold--an indication, analysts said, that the many incentive programs offered by U.S. manufacturers are helping to sustain sales.
“Although the month as a whole is weaker than June, the sales level is enough to maintain current production levels,” Healy said. He added, however, that it appears that the “effect of incentives is beginning to stale.”
U.S. auto makers have been bolstering their sales with various incentive programs since April. The current programs are scheduled to expire in September when many of the 1987 models are introduced.
Auto Sales
July 1986 1985 change GM 352,389 348,936 +1.0 Ford 169,924 165,621 +2.6 Chrysler 98,835 87,766 +12.6 AMC 5,186 12,144 -57.3 VW U.S. 6,402 6,198 +3.3 Honda U.S. 15,840 9,338 +69.6 Nissan U.S. 91 3,524 -97.4 DOMESTIC 648,667 633,527 +2.4 Toyota* 70,000 68,753 +1.8 Nissan 50,580 53,558 -5.6 Honda 32,434 28,062 +15.6 Mazda 16,607 17,229 -3.6 Subaru 16,030 15,569 +3.0 Volvo 11,412 10,835 +5.3 Hyundai 19,690 -- -- VW Imports 12,547 13,083 -4.1 Others* 69,700 58,291 +19.6 IMPORTS* 299,000 265,380 +12.7 TOTAL U.S. 947,667 898,907 +5.4
*Estimate
