Another Good Month For The Detroit Three

June 2013: Another Good Month For The Detroit Three

By Rod Kackley

Only a few years from being declared at death's doorstep and pleading for its corporate life in Congress,  General Motors Co. sold 264,843 vehicles in the United States in June 2013, up 6 percent compared with a year ago. Deliveries to retail customers increased 14 percent while fleet sales declined 9 percent due to the timing of customer deliveries. 

Total crossover sales were up 9 percent compared with a year ago; passenger car sales were up 4 percent, and truck sales, which include pickups, vans and SUVs, were up 8 percent. All four GM brands posted higher retail sales, with Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac posting double-digit increases. 
GM estimates that the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate for light vehicles in June was 15.8 million units, the highest level since November 2007. 

“America’s families are better off than they were at the beginning of the year and they believe – with good justification – that the economic expansion is going to continue,” said Mustafa Mohatarem, GM chief economist. “Even moderate economic growth will be enough to keep the auto sales rate in the second half of the year at healthy levels around the mid 15 million-unit mark.”

Ford Motor Company never took any help from the Obama administration during the worst years the auto industry had ever seen. The Dearborn-based automaker's U.S. June sales grew 13 percent compared with a year ago, marking Ford's best June sales results since 2006. Cars are up 12 percent, utilities are up 8 percent, and trucks are up 20 percent. 

"In June, we continued to see strong demand across the entire lineup," said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. "We're particularly encouraged by strong retail share gains, especially in coastal markets, where the combination of great design and fuel economy is resonating with customers – including many buying a Ford for the first time."

Chrysler Group LLC limped across the finish line at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century.This is a company that needed and accepted help.  Look where it is now. The Auburn Hills automaker  reported U.S. sales of 156,686 units, an 8 percent increase compared with sales in June 2012 (144,811 units), and the group's best June sales since 2007.

The Chrysler, Jeep®, Dodge, Ram Truck and FIAT brands each posted year-over-year sales gains in June compared with the same month a year ago. The Ram Truck brand's 23 percent increase was the largest sales gain of any Chrysler Group brand in June. Chrysler Group extended its streak of year-over-year sales gains to 39-consecutive months in June.

"Last month Chrysler Group set seven individual vehicle line sales records and achieved our 39th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales growth. The fundamentals for continued industry gains in new vehicle sales remain intact," said Reid Bigland, who heads U.S. sales for Chrysler.

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