Global Sales Growth Trending Downward

Current trendlines suggest monthly vehicle sales will draw even with 2009 results by the end of the year.

John Sousanis, Director, Information Content

July 30, 2010

2 Min Read
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Analysis

First-half global vehicle sales climbed 20.7%, compared with like-2009, however a second-quarter slowdown signaled some unsteadiness.

First-quarter deliveries jumped 27%, but the rate of improvement fell to 14.4% in the latter half of the first six months.

Volume sales have trended upward throughout the year, but with the exception of March, year-over-year comparisons have drawn closer each month. In January, deliveries were 33.6% ahead of prior-year, but by June the margin had dwindled to 12.3%.

The diminishing increases were due in part to growth in 2009, which raises the bar on year-ago comparisons. But as China’s market (up 23.5% in June) begins to normalize, the year-over-year performance decline questions how much acceleration North America (up 13.8%) and Europe (up 2.7%) can muster to sustain a meaningful recovery.

Current trendlines suggest monthly vehicle sales will draw even with 2009 results by the end of the 2010.

Related document: World Vehicle Sales Summary

June global sales totaled 6.5 million units, the second-highest monthly tally of 2010 and the fourth consecutive month in which global deliveries exceeded 6 million.

The Asia/Pacific region, up 21.6% from year-ago, accounted for 40.4% of world sales, with nearly 2.7 million units. In addition to China’s year-over-year hike, healthy growth in Japan (17%) and India (32.6%) were offset slightly by a 14% shortfall in South Korea.

North America sales of 1.2 million vehicles last month were down 8.8% from May, in line with seasonal sales patterns in the region, accounting for 18.6% of the global market.

Through June, auto makers sold 1.9 million vehicles in Europe for a 29.6% share. While Germany and Italy suffered declines of 30% and 17.4%, respectively, an 11.2% upswing in U.K. sales and a 46.4% jump in Russia held sway.

Brazil’s 5.8% dip was offset by a 41.8% year-over-year rise in Argentina, leaving South America’s vehicle sales dead-even with year ago, at 418,000 units – good for a 6.4% global share.

First-half world vehicle sales totaled 37.3 million, compared with like-2009’s 30.9 million.

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2010

About the Author

John Sousanis

Director, Information Content, WardsAuto

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