U.S. Auto Makers Post Record Sales
The U.S. auto industry recorded its single best month in history, using the lure of no-interest loans to boost sales 24.4% but risking future damage to the companies’ bottom lines.
None of the Detroit-area Big Three auto makers has quantified the fiscal burdens of the unprecedented financing deals, but industry analysts say the no-interest loans cost the companies about $2,500 for the median-priced $24,000 vehicle.
In announcing October sales Thursday, market leaders General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. acknowledged that there will be “payback” for the generous financing terms, which they have extended past mid-November.
The manufacturers recognize that the deals, and the record sales pace, are unsustainable.
“We do expect sales to fall off from these levels that are obviously quite high,” said George Pipas, Ford’s director of sales analysis. “It’s clear to all of us that there is going to be payback in the months ahead.”
The deals, offering low-and no-interest financing on new passenger cars and light trucks, were designed to jump-start a market that had slowed to a crawl after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The moves by GM, Ford and other major auto makers significantly cleared out vehicles gathering dust on dealers’ lots. GM alone reduced inventory by 100,000, and Ford 80,000, compared with a month earlier.
Industrywide sales sped ahead at a searing annualized pace of 21.33 million vehicles, according to Autodata Corp., making October the industry’s hottest month ever and putting 2001 squarely on track to be the third-best year of auto sales on record. Analysts expect sales to finish between 16.6 million and 16.8 million units, down from last year’s record 17.4 million.
“What else can you say about October sales but wow!” said Bill Lovejoy, GM’s group vice president of North America vehicle sales, service and marketing.
“Our intent was to promote a clear, simple program that would make a significant impact,” he said of the No. 1 auto maker’s low-interest financing offers. The company exceeded all sales expectations and gained a lot of first-time GM buyers, he said.
GM, which started the 0% loan scramble little more than a week after the Sept. 11 attacks, said sales of its domestic brands jumped 30.9% from a year earlier.
Ford sales, excluding the foreign brands it owns, soared 34.6% to the best October performance ever, beating a 24-year-old record for the month. The No. 2 auto maker’s F-Series pickup achieved an all-time truck sales record for any month with sales of 102,424--more than the total vehicle sales of all but the top five manufacturers.
DaimlerChrysler’s U.S. brands--Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep--rose 4.3% from a year earlier for a best-ever October.
“We’re very pleased with the reception we’ve received across all brands and model lines,” said Gary Dilts, DaimlerChrysler’s senior vice president for sales. “We managed to improve sales volume by 22% over the prior month and limited the use of 0% financing on both our 2001 and 2002 models.”
DaimlerChrysler said earlier Thursday that it will offer an extended warranty on all new vehicles bought between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 to cover engine and other powertrain problems for seven years or 100,000 miles.
Chrysler said the offer was made to shift consumers’ attention from the interest-free loans.
Asked if his company would match Chrysler’s extended warranty as a way to replace the cheap financing, Paul Ballew, GM’s executive director of market and industry analysis, said it “continues to evaluate how to use extended warranties to give additional value.”
The boom in sales comes at the expense of sales that otherwise would have occurred in the first quarter of next year and perhaps beyond.
Ford’s Pipas estimated that 350,000 to 400,000 sales were pulled forward to October industrywide, and GM’s Ballew put the number at 400,000 to 500,000. Executives and analysts thus expect a sharp drop in sales after the interest-free loan programs end, mostly between Nov. 18 and 20.
“One restraining factor will be relatively low dealer inventories, after the torrid sales pace in October,” said Paul Taylor, chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Assn. “Many dealers report having only half or even one-third the light vehicles in inventory that they had in October of last year.”
“I estimate days supply at 40 days, which is kind of scary,” Pipas said. Manufacturers and dealers usually like to have about 60 days’ supply on hand or in transit. “I estimate dealers have about 30 days.”
In any case, in an economy that contracted 0.4% in the last quarter, the incentive-backed sales are good news for dealers--and car shoppers.
“The 0% program is the largest fiscal stimulus the economy is experiencing. It’s the best thing going,” said Sean McAlinden, senior researcher with the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
“The auto industry is connected to 20 other major industries in the U.S. and is helping them all keep their heads above water,” he added.
Import brands surged, sometimes with help from limited interest-free programs of their own.
The U.S. unit of Toyota Motor Corp., including its Lexus luxury brand, leaped 27.5%, marking the Japanese auto maker’s second-best month ever.
Sales of Honda Motor Co.’s mainstream and Acura luxury models, which have no zero-percent deals, were up 18.8% for a record October. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. sales rose 13.3% for a record October; the company also extended until Nov. 30 its program of no money down, no interest and no payments until 2003. Nissan Motor Co., including its Infiniti luxury line, rose 8.2%.
The U.S. unit of Hyundai Motor Co. of South Korea reported an 87.7% leap in October sales, and its Kia Motors affiliate said sales rose 72%.
Volkswagen, the top-selling European brand in the U.S., was up 4.9% for the best October since 1974.
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Wheeling and Dealing
Auto makers recorded their best month on record, posting October sales supercharged by low-interest financing deals. The top 10 manufacturers ranked by unit sales, with percentage change from a year earlier.
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% gain Unit from a Manufacturer sales year ago General Motors 551,461 +30.9% Ford Motor 417,738 +34.6 Chrysler Group* 227,921 +4.3 Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. 164,084 +27.5 American Honda Motor 105,572 +18.8 Nissan North America 63,423 +8.2 Volkswagen of America 36,186 +4.9 Hyundai Motor America 34,051 +87.7 Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America 27,726 +13.3 Mazda North American Operations 23,660 +6.0 Industry 1,727,241 +24.4
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* Excludes Mercedes-Benz
Source: Autodata
