New-car sales tumbled year-over-year for the eighth straight month in May, including declines in 20 of the 29 countries it tracks, which represent about 80% of the market’s volume.
Deliveries fell in May for the fourth straight month in Brazil and for the third consecutive time in Argentina. This does not bode well for the rest of the year, as the two countries account for more than 80% of...
Ford, Nissan and Chrysler will see the largest production gains in 2012. Hyundai and Volkswagen, which will add third shifts later this year at their U.S. plants, also are beneficiaries of the WardsAuto forecast...
Total light-vehicle volume for the month was 1.330 million. That equals a daily selling rate of 51,161 over the month’s 26 selling days, 16% above year-ago’s 44,094 over 24 selling days.
Growth in Japan and India, the second and third largest markets in the region, respectively, plus some other countries, is more than offsetting China’s decline.
Despite solid gains by VW and its Audi luxury division, which together accounted for 20.3% of the market, combined sales of all other European auto makers in the WardsAuto group of 24 regions declined 7.2%.
Vehicle deliveries in Brazil dropped for a third straight month largely due to tighter credit and a newly imposed higher tax on imports. Both issues are expected to continue to have a negative impact on the market.
This year’s first-quarter capacity utilization, including medium- and heavy-duty trucks, soared to 86.1% compared with 72.3% year-ago, the most output for the quarter since WardsAuto began tracking production...