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Cruze sales down, GM sales up
By Kalea Hall
LORDSTOWN
General Motors’ best-selling compact car still has some heavy competition with utility vehicles.
The Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cruze’s May sales dropped 26.7 percent year-over-year.
U.S. Cruze deliveries in the month that had one fewer sales day hit 23,752 compared with 32,393 in May 2014, which was a record-breaking month for the Cruze.
Despite the drop, Glenn Johnson, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112, was pleased that Cruze sales came in above 20,000.
“We are still selling 23,000 of the current vehicle,” he said. “Just to be where we are in the fifth year of our cycle and months away from changing vehicles, I think that is a fantastic testament” to the workers.
Robert Morales, president of UAW Local 1714, also was happy with the numbers.
“[It is] the oldest car in GM’s line, and we are still selling cars and making an impact,” he said.
The Cruze, which has been on the market since 2010, will soon transition to its next-generation incarnation – a move that is important for GM.
“It is a very important car,” said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst for autotrader.com.
But “it is coming into a market that is not in favor of cars,” she said.
Low fuel costs, a better economy, more household wealth and renewed job security have all led to consumer confidence, which has led to a trend of buying more utility vehicles.
GM’s strongest sellers were the trucks and crossovers. Overall, U.S. dealers delivered 293,097 vehicles for a 3 percent increase in sales over last year and a 7 percent increase in retail sales.
The Chevrolet Equinox, a crossover, had sales up about 30 percent over last May with 29,456 sales.
Chevrolet Silverado sales were up 10.6 percent over last year, and demand for the Chevrolet Colorado midsize pickup truck rose faster than GM’s ability to increase production.
Analysts do not see utility vehicles trend ending anytime soon.
“It is very different utility out there today,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book.
TrueCar expects the compact-car segment to make up 15.2 percent of the market this year. That’s compared with 13.8 percent in 2000 and 15.9 percent in 2012.
The next-generation Cruze is important for other reasons. It debuts before the new Chevrolet Malibu, a midsize car.
“It is going to set the precedent,” said Eric Lyman, TrueCar’s vice president for industry insights. “It is very important to set the stage to reset the demand for passenger cars.”
Overall, the auto industry’s May sales were very healthy, beating analysts’ expectations. Sales were coming in a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17.8 million units compared with KBB’s prediction of about 17.3 million units this month. This May is considered the best May since 2005 in terms of seasonally adjusted annual rate and volume.
Ford Motor Co. reported U.S. sales at 250,813 vehicles, a 1 percent decline in sales from a year ago. Ford’s highlights included record May sales for the Edge, the best May since 2007 for the Mustang and the best sales month since 1978 for vans.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US LLC reported U.S. sales of 202,227 units, a 4 percent increase compared with sales in May 2014 of 194,421 units, and the group’s best May sales since 2005.
Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. posted sales of 242,579 units in May 2015, a decrease of 0.3 percent from May 2014 on a volume basis. With one fewer selling day in May 2015 than in May 2014, sales were up 3.6 percent on a daily selling rate basis.
Toyota division posted May 2015 sales of 212,908 units, down 1.6 percent on a volume basis and up 2.2 percent on a daily selling rate basis.
American Honda Motor Co. Inc. reported May 2015 month-to-month American Honda total sales up 1.3 percent year-over-year.
The Acura Division gained 16.1 percent on sales of 17,042 vehicles in May, and the Honda Division posted sales of 137,551 vehicles, a decrease of 0.3 percent for the month.