Black Friday deals likely helped lift U.S. auto sales at most automakers in November, as a bumper crop of old model-year vehicles spurred car companies to offer record discounts. But it wasn't enough to spare Nissan from a 15.9% decline.
A projection by LMC Automotive and J.D. Power estimated total light-vehicle sales in the country at an adjusted annualized rate of 17.5 million in November, a touch better than 17.4 million a year ago. The market researchers expect industry deliveries to drop to 16.8 million in 2020, from about 17.1 million this year.
It's not just sales that rose in November: so did prices, which averaged $35,623, up 1.3% from a year ago, according to researcher TrueCar. BMW, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Hyundai all saw gains in average transaction prices, driven by popular new models.
To move older model-year vehicles from dealer lots, automakers boosted incentive spending by an estimated 12%, to $4,538 per vehicle in November, J.D. Power estimated last week, exceeding $4,500 for the first time. Those discounts, plus the later date for this year's Thanksgiving holiday, were expected to spur some of the best Black Friday deals in years, according to car-shopping researcher Edmunds.
Detroit's three major manufacturers have stopped reporting monthly numbers, so tallies for November won't include official figures from General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. or Fiat Chrysler. Other automakers generated about 56% of U.S. new-vehicle sales in the first half of the year.
Nissan posted a third-straight monthly decline in November, with sales falling below 100,000 vehicles for the first time since July. Deliveries of its top seller, the Rogue SUV, sank 25.5% and demand for the Murano crossover and Frontier pickup also declined by double digits. Only three models notched gains in the month, led by a 37% surge in sales of the Altima sedan.
The automaker has suffered from turmoil in its senior management ranks in Japan and is refocusing its U.S. business away from reliance on steep discounts and fleet sales.
"It's going to take a bit of time for us, and we're not taking any shortcuts to get there," said David Kershaw, division vice president for the Nissan brand at the company's U.S. sales unit.
Honda Motor Co. sales soared 11% in November to 133,952 vehicles, paced by demand for SUVs and trucks.
The automaker's top-selling vehicle, the CR-V crossover, had a record month, and deliveries of the smaller HR-V more than doubled. Sales of the Ridgeline pickup climbed 31%.
Toyota's U.S. deliveries jumped 9.2% to 207,857 vehicles, led by a 26% increase for its biggest-volume model, the RAV4 compact SUV. The Tacoma mid-size truck and Camry and Corolla sedans also had strong showings.
The Japanese automaker said nearly a quarter of its 44,665 RAV4 sales were gasoline-electric models. Sales of all Toyota- and Lexus-brand hybrids surged 65% to 27,274 vehicles -- about 13% of total U.S. deliveries.
South Korea's Hyundai reported a solid 6.2% rise in November sales to 60,601 vehicles, its 15th gain in the past 16 months.
SUVs including the compact Tucson and mid-size Santa Fe and Palisade models led the way, but its hybrid and electric vehicles are also on the ascent, soaring 78% for the month.
Business on 12/04/2019