Sales

Audi April sales up 7% on China, U.S.

May 7, 2013 13:42 CET
Audi sales rose 7 percent in April to 133,500 vehicles on strong demand in China and the United States, pushing four-month sales to 503,000. It is the first time that Audi has topped a half million deliveries in just four months, the automaker said Tuesday.... Read More »

 

UK has best April car sales since 2008

May 7, 2013 11:16 CET
UK new-car sales were nearly 15 percent higher in April than a year ago, according to the SMMT, which said 2013 sales would be stronger than it previously forecast.... Read More »

 

GM China April sales rise 15% as Toyota struggles

6:19 am U.S. ET | May 6, 2013
General Motors reported sales growth in China accelerated last month while Toyota's sales continued to lag. GM sales climbed 15 percent to 261,870 units in April, according to figures released today by the carmaker. Toyota reported sales fell 6.5 percent to 76,400 units, the ninth drop in 10 months.... Read More »

 

Mercedes brand sales rise 12% in April on Asia, Europe

May 6, 2013 13:17 CET
Daimler said vehicle sales of its Mercedes brand rose 11.7 percent last month, powered by double-digit gains in Asia and Europe.... Read More »

 

CARRYING THE LOAD

Surge in high-profit pickups, SUVs made April big for Detroit

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 6, 2013
April's auto sales rate was the lowest since October, but the parade of high-margin pickups and SUVs rolling off dealership lots gave the Detroit 3 double-digit increases for the month, hefty profits and a spike in market share.... Read More »

 

Car sales growth in Germany and Spain spurs optimism

May 3, 2013 17:56 CET
Car sales rose in Germany and Spain last month, adding to signs that Europe's austerity-driven auto slump could soon bottom out. Spanish car sales increased 11 percent while registrations in Germany advanced 4 percent.... Read More »

 

Tesla hikes guaranteed residual value on Model S

4:16 pm U.S. ET | May 3, 2013
Tesla increased the guaranteed residual value of its electric Model S sedan to 50 percent after its lease-to-own period of three years. The car's guaranteed residual value had been tied to that of the Mercedes-Benz S class, which, at 43 percent after 36 months, is relatively low compared with the overall luxury segment.... Read More »

 

Sales rebate helps to boost Spanish new-car sales

May 3, 2013 12:28 CET
Spanish car sales rose 11 percent in April, boosted by a calendar effect and a sales rebate program.... Read More »

 

German car market returns to growth

May 3, 2013 12:10 CET
Germany's new car market returned to modest growth in April as sales to private customers picked up and the month had one business day more than the year-earlier period.... Read More »

 

French car sales decline slowed in April

May 2, 2013 10:38 CET
France's car sales decline slowed to a 5.2 percent drop in April, raising hopes that auto demand may be about to stabilize.... Read More »

 

ADESA parent KAR's Q1 profit rose 12% to $29 million

10:09 am U.S. ET | May 2, 2013
KAR Auction Services, parent company of vehicle-auction company ADESA, said its first-quarter net income rose 12 percent to $29 million on a 10 percent increase in revenue, to $558 million.... Read More »

 

Dealer fears deepen as Italy car sales fall 11%

May 2, 2013 18:31 CET
New car sales in Italy fell 11 percent in April deepening worries that the market will show a big full-year drop..... Read More »

 

AutoNation's new-vehicle sales rose 10% in April

1:37 pm U.S. ET | May 2, 2013
Driven by a domestic-brand sales surge, AutoNation, the nation's largest dealership group, reported a 10 percent gain in new-vehicle sales in April.... Read More »

 

NICK BUNKLEY

Lincoln shoots for a happier ending after troubled MKZ launch

4:30 pm U.S. ET | May 1, 2013
How far off track did the launch of the redesigned Lincoln MKZ get? The car, whose chassis bears the burden of a once-thriving luxury brand now trying to prove it's still relevant -- originally was supposed to start arriving at dealerships last fall, around the same time Steven Spielberg's movie Lincoln was hitting theaters around the country.... Read More »

 

Mid-sized sedans, hot in 2012, cool off

5:11 pm U.S. ET | May 1, 2013
For the third straight month, a different car has topped the giant mid-sized sedan market, a segment that has significantly slowed this year as competition intensifies. Sales declined in April for seven of the 10 top mid-sized cars. Overall, mid-sized car sales fell 1 percent in the month and are up just 2 percent so far this year.... Read More »

 

APRIL U.S. AUTO SALES

Ford, Nissan lead gains as trucks, new models propel sales up 9%

8:00 am U.S. ET | May 1, 2013
Rising demand for Detroit 3 pickups helped lift U.S. auto sales 9 percent last month, while surprising declines at Toyota and Volkswagen took some steam out of the market's steady recovery. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate came in at 14.9 million, marking the first time since October that the SAAR failed to top 15 million.... Read More »

 

JESSE SNYDER

April goes Detroit's way

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 1, 2013
Pickups are back. Sales of those honking-big behemoths so unique to North American roads jumped 27 percent in April. And they're up 30 percent in the first four months of the year.... Read More »

 

Mercedes extends U.S. luxury lead over BMW in April

2:03 pm U.S. ET | May 1, 2013
Mercedes-Benz extended its lead over BMW in the U.S. luxury sales race, with a 5.8 percent gain in April. Sales for the Mercedes brand rose to 23,635 in April, led by gains for the C-class sedan and M-class SUV. The BMW brand posted a 10 percent increase in April to 23,225, the company said today in a statement.... Read More »

 

Mazda volume skids 4th straight month

4:23 pm U.S. ET | May 1, 2013
Mazda once again watched the auto industry's recovery from the sidelines as it posted its fourth straight monthly U.S. sales decline in April.... Read More »

 

Lincoln to hike MKZ Hybrid mix; Ford volume up 18%

2:42 pm U.S. ET | May 1, 2013
Ford Motor Co. will increase the production mix of Lincoln MKZ Hybrids to 30 percent for the 2014 model year, from 20 percent now, to meet increased demand, a Ford executive said today.... Read More »

 

Pickups help Detroit 3 gain ground in Canada

2:00 pm U.S. ET | May 1, 2013
Canadian sales rose for the three Detroit automakers, led by strong sales for pickup trucks. Ford was the top-seller in Canada in April as sales rose 16 percent to 27,907 vehicles. Chrysler was second, at 25,745 vehicles, up 5 percent, barely edging out GM's 25,071 vehicles, up 19 percent.... Read More »

 

Mercedes extends U.S. luxury lead over BMW in April

May 1, 2013 20:03 CET
Mercedes-Benz extended its lead over BMW in the U.S. luxury sales race, with a 5.8 percent gain in April. Sales for the Mercedes brand rose to 23,635 in April, led by gains for the C-class sedan and M-class SUV. The BMW brand posted a 10 percent increase in April to 23,225, the company said today in a statement.... Read More »

 

Detroit 3 climb with pickups; industry recovery slips

5:33 pm U.S. ET | May 1, 2013
Booming pickup sales drove Detroit automakers to double-digit gains and the U.S. auto market 9 percent higher in April. While that percentage gain was the second-highest of the year, the results marked a setback for the industry's recovery. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate came in at 14.9 million, below estimates in the 15.2 million range. It was the first time since October that the SAAR dropped below 15 million.... Read More »

 

Subaru jumps 25% on new Forester

2:39 pm U.S. ET | May 1, 2013
Fueled by demand for the redesigned Forester crossover, Subaru of America's April sales advanced 25 percent.
The company said it was the best April in its history, with sales of 32,943 vehicles. For the first four months, Subaru sales rose 17 percent compared with a year earlier to 125,470 units.
Forester sales in April grew 65 percent to 9,366 vehicles.... Read More »

 

VW sales fall as rivals dent Passat, Jetta demand

12:51 pm U.S. ET | May 1, 2013
Volkswagen of America officials blamed challenging conditions and competition in the mid-sized and compact sedan segments for a 10 percent drop in April sales for the VW brand, ending a streak of monthly sales gains that began in September 2010.... Read More »