AIADA: New-Car Sales Rise Despite Failing Consumer Confidence

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -

Despite the high unemployment numbers and weak consumer confidence that plagued the economy, new-car sales saw nearly a double-digit rise as shoppers continued to flock to dealer lots, according to the American International Automobile Dealers Association.

And while the most dramatic gains were spotted among the Big 3 OEMs, import brands enjoyed more than a 4-percent year-over-year lift in sales, AIADA noted.

Overall, September new-car sales — including domestics and imports — were up nearly 10 percent year-over-year and 10.4 percent year to date, while sales were also up 2 percent from August.

Also of note, the seasonally adjusted annual rate for light vehicle sales in this past month was estimated by AutoData Corp. at 13.1 million units — the highest since April.

Breaking these numbers down into vehicle segments, SUVs sold 329,993 units in September, down from 342,638 in August. That said, it still remained the top-selling segment, with sales up 13.7 percent year-over-year.

The midsize segement followed with 240,860 units sold. Additionally, the luxury car segment sold 81,824 units, showing an 8.7 percent improvement from a year ago. Logging the information by region, AIADA data shows that asian nameplates sold 264,138 cars and 181,753 trucks, while European brands sold 73,886 cars and 27,379 trucks. Domestic brands sold 149,215 cars and 357,351 trucks.

AIADA provided the following charts illustrating vehicle segment market shares for September:

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Commenting on the rising number of sales this fall, AIADA president Cody Lusk said, “Automotive sales are emerging as a bright spot in an otherwise bleak economy. Dealers are using low interest rates and great incentives to get Americans in the new cars they want and need.”

What nameplates reaped the most benefit from September’s encouraging numbers?

Domestic automakers, thanks in part to a spur in truck sales, saw significant gains, according to AIADA data. General Motors was up 19.7 percent year-over-year, while Ford was up 9 percent, and Chysler saw sales grow a whopping 27.2 when compared to the same period of 2010.

Also, as September’s sales numbers surprised many analysts that were seeing signs of increasingly weak consumer confidence, many international nameplates also saw units flying off the lots.

Hyundai’s sales were up 11.8 percent, Kia was up 18.4 percent, and Nissan saw sales rise 28.2 percent from a year ago.

But some Japanese brands seem to be still feeling lingering inventory shortages from the spring’s natural disasters. Highlighting that September was the first month that the Japanese automakers ran their plants at full capacity since the March earthquake, Honda and Toyota saw there sales fall 8.2 and 18.2 percent, respectively. That said, officials noted that inventory levels are expected to grow through the end of the year.

As a whole last month, international brand sales were up 4.1 percent year-over-year and 6.2 percent year to date.

Morover, in another piece of good news for international nameplates, five of the top ten selling vehicles last month were from international brands, up from four in August and three in July. The Toyota Camry held its place as the top selling car in America and is expected to remain in that position as Toyota just uneveiled the 2012 model in September as well, officials noted. Japanese OEMs hold another place on the list with the Honda CR-V, at number seven, making it into the top ten for the first time since February.

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Seven of the top ten models experienced an average 27.4 percent year-over-year sales improvement, with the full list below:

Though many individual international brands saw year-over-year rises in sales, international nameplates as a whole sold 547,156 vehicles in September, falling from 551,991 vehicles sold in August.

Breaking it down by region, Asian nameplates accounted for 42.3 percent of the overall market, down from 42.6 in August. European nameplates had 9.6 percent share, up from 8.9 percent in August. Domestic brands finished September with 48.1 percent of the market, down from 48.5 in August.

AIADA provided a chart illustrating U.S. market share, as well as an in-depth look at international vehicle sales for September, as follows: