Car Sales Plummet; Ford F-Series Still Most Popular

October was not a good month for the auto industry. GM’s loss of 45% of its sales compared to October 2007 may get the most headlines tonight, but almost everyone saw huge dips, with Chrysler (35%), Nissan (33%), Ford (29%), Honda (28%) and Toyota (25.9%) all down as well.

Despite the tough economic times, Ford did manage to sell 43,324 F-Series, and a majority of those were the outgoing 2008 F-150 model. Only 3,000 were the redesigned 2009 model. We’d also guess that a majority of those 3,000 were sold to dealers or other industry groups, as the 2009 just barely went on sale officially.

Not only were total sales down, but there wasn’t one Ford model that had a positive uptick in sales. For GM, only the Chevy Malibu, Impala and Pontiac Vibe saw increases. Toyota and Honda didn’t fare any better, with the Toyota Corolla and Sequoia and the Lexus LX570, and the Honda Fit and Acura TL being those companies’ only models to see sales move upward. Chrysler saw no mainstream models increase in sales; only the Dodge Viper and the discontinued Chrysler Crossfire saw increases. The new Dodge Challenger did sell just over 3,000 units, though.

What does this mean for you? November is typically a slow sales month any year, so expect a new slew of significant incentives to be released this week.

Below are the 10 best-selling vehicles in the U.S. last month.

Comments

Wow GM is getting hit harder than I thought. According to a friend who works at a Chevy dealership the increase in sales for the Impala and Malibu were mainly driven by fleet companies conducting their usual year-end procurement. Frankly I am surprised that Toyota is able to move even 30,000 Camry's given it's an old platform.

GM had a better sept than most because of huge sales which kind of kicked them in the butt this month. Still, it wouldn't have been much better.
New sale starts tomorrow, we'll have more details soon.

Toyota had a "Saved By Zero" zero percent financing program going on in October while most other automakers couldn't get financing for their customers (and that's why GMAC was turning down everyone with a credit score below 700).

CJ
And that's why Toyota's numbers weren't as bad as they were in Sept.

We just picked-up a new Highlander for my wife and the 0% is only for 36 months but it worked for us as we generally pay cash for our cars. Just like in the stock market if you know what you are doing now is a buyer's market.

Actually, NOW is NOT a buyer's market...YET. Wait 'til the end of month. Then THAT'S buyer's market. One of my colleagues @ work is now extremely interested to get the base 1.6 Versa, esp if there's bonus cash + 0% on it starting Nov 18th. With my company's Employee Purchase Plan on top of all the bonus, and most likely "special extra" deal to see a vehicle, it's gonnabe a win-win situation for my colleague...

Another interesting thing that I see from the stats above, is how close the Altima is getting to the Accord territory. I don't think - but I can be wrong - that there's extra special for either the Altima or the Accord last month. Special financing for both - yes, but not like 0%. Still, surprised to see how hot the Camry is, outselling either importer brand's mid-size. U know, Camry is the oldest/worst of the 3 in terms of performance & price. Camry's fanbase must be huge despite all of its shortcomings vs Altima/Accord.

P.S. I meant "to SELL" a vehicle, not to "SEE" in my previous post.

Amuro, like I said above Toyota had a "Saved by Zero" campaign that really juiced their sales. A lot of Accord buyers were probably swayed by the special financing and bought Camrys instead.

Camry buyers a loyal bunch. To them, anything else would be a step down as far as quality, reliability and dependability. Toyotas in general are far from exciting, but what they do offer in their respective segments tend to hit the mark with the average consumer. I can understand why they are the best selling cars on the planet since they do the best at point A to point B transportation with little fuss.

YOING, most buyers in the midsize segment DO cross shop. They cross shop 2 vehicles. Camry or Accord. I'm sure this time around most shoppers in the midsize segment, just chose the Camry because of incentives. That's not to say that there weren't other midsizers that did well, notably the Altima and Malibu, but the Camry really shined this month.

this is two consecutive months that the Impala has outsold the Accord. Not good for Honda when you consider the Impala is 3 years old and isnt nearly as popular as a retail car as some of its rivals.

50% of Impala sales are fleet vehicles and only 2.5% of Accords are fleet sales.

Less than 1% of Accords are to fleet sales and 32% of Impala's go to fleet. Your numbers are way off.

The Camry is popular because an LE can be had for $20k and it's not as large as the Accord. I know several people who have test drove the Malibu and ended up buying an Accord or Camry due to quality. GM and Ford still make inferior cars in this segment.