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Auto Update – U.S. SAAR for October, November 2009

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:30:35 +0000

An update from Autodata Corp. — In October, 838,052 cars and light trucks were sold in the U.S., for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 10.46 million units. The federal “Cash for Clunkers” program stimulated sales in July and August, cannibalizing September’s demand, which sank to 9.22 million, about half the 17 million unit sales that the industry had enjoyed for the past decade. General Motors is now making business decisions with the assumption that 10 million units will be the new “normal” annual rate for a while.

UPDATE: November numbers are now available. The SAAR for November 2009 was 10.93 million vehicles.

Domestic Auto Industry Overview 2009

admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:48:38 +0000

General Motors entered bankruptcy and..
Sold: Hummer (to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industry Machine Co), and Saab (to Spyker Cars N.V.)
Discontinued: Pontiac and Saturn

Chrysler entered bankruptcy.

Ford did not enter bankruptcy, but…
Sold: Aston Martin, Land Rover, Jaguar, and Mazda.

The only brand showing positive sales growth (for which stats were available) from 2005 to 2008 was Mazda, with a +0.5% CAGR. Cash for Clunkers clearly had a fleeting impact on sales, essentially shoring up some demand at the expense of near-future sales.

The two best selling domestic vehicles are Ford F-150 (#1), and Chevy Silverado (#4). The remaining top 5 are Japanese mid-size or compact sedans.

The Total U.S. Light Vehicle Sales chart shows that domestic brands visibly lost market share to all other brands over the past decade.

Brain Fitness Market 2009

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:51:22 +0000

Created to mark the release of the first published comprehensive overview of the brain fitness industry, the SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness.