November 2016 U.S. Auto Sales: Steady is Good

November 2016’s U.S. auto sales were beating Wall Street analysts’ expectations as the numbers flowed in Thursday. Black Friday deals mean this may come at the cost of net profit, with Ford Motor Company, for example, reporting that per-unit incentives were up $570 compared with November 2015. Anecdotally, I saw a local dealer advertise a new Chevrolet Trax for just $57 per month, yesterday.

Such deals will affect bottom lines, though there’s no need to worry about Detroit Three or import profitability so long as they keep moving parking lots-full of well-equipped pickup trucks and premium crossovers.

“The outlook for 2017 is probably in the low 17” million-level, Bob Carter, senior vice president for Toyota Motor Sales’ automotive operations (Toyota and Lexus) prognosticated at the automaker’s annual media holiday party in Detroit. Point is, he said, while calendar 2016 sales may be a bit lower, or possibly even a bit higher than CY15’s record of 17.5 million, it’s best to maintain a high, steady level for a few years. Carter predicted CY16 will end close to CY15’s level.

Meanwhile, just as in the previous November, Toyota Motor Sales edged Ford Motor Company by 71 vehicles for second-place last month, though Ford had a greater increase.

And so, to the numbers …

1. General Motors: 252,644, up 10.2 percent.

• GM continues to take share from Ford Motor and FiatChrysler. Chevrolet was up 8.1 percent, to 168,675; GMC was up 14.1 percent, to 49,113; Buick was up 16.1 percent, to 18,530 and Cadillac was up 14.5 percent, to 15,326. GM says retail accounted for 197,609 sales, up 7.9 percent.
• Chevy Silverado, up 0.6 percent to 45,280, and GMC Sierra, up 14.4 percent, to 18,900, added up to 64,180.
• Chevy Colorado, up 39.1 percent to 8,669, and GMC Canyon, up 52.5 percent, to 3,410, totaled 12,079.
• Chevy Equinox was up 10 percent, to 21,600, while Malibu was up 71.8 percent, to 18,577. Cruze was up 2.1 percent, to 16,414.
• Corvette was off 0.6 percent, to 1,941. Volt was up 27.8 percent, to 2,531.
• Buick Encore was up 39.5 percent, to 7,162. Chevy Trax was up 26.6 percent, to 8,207.
• Buick Enclave was off 24.7 percent, to 3,508, and LaCrosse fell 27.6 percent, to 2,427.
• Cadillac sold 5,364 XT5s and 111 SRX, compared with 5,087 SRX in November ’15. It sold 1,169 CT6, while CTS was off 14.9 percent, to 1,042.

2. Toyota Motor Sales: 197,645, up 4.3 percent.

• Camry was off 16.2 percent, to 28,189. Corolla once again outsold it, up 2.8 percent, to 28,262 (including 1,515 Corolla iMs).
• RAV4 was up 2.7 percent, to 28,116. Prius was off 16.5 percent, to 10,495.
• Highlander was up 53.4 percent, to 21,241, and Sienna was off 8 percent, to 9,253.
• Lexus RX was off 4.7 percent, to 10,269, while NX was up 55.9 percent, to 5,120.
• Lexus ES was off 13.3 percent, to 4,097 and IS was up 16.6 percent, to 3,571.
• Toyota Tacoma was up 15.3 percent, to 15,531, and Tundra rose 11.5 percent, to 9,578.

3. Ford Motor Company: 197,574, up 5.2 percent.

• F-Series was up 10.6 percent, to 72,089.
• Ford Mustang regained the Pony Car Wars lead, though off 15 percent, to 6,196. Chevy Camaro was off 7.7 percent, to 4,893 and Dodge Challenger was off 9 percent, to 3,908.
• Ford division accounted for 188,145 units, up 4.6 percent, while the expanded Lincoln lineup was up 19.1 percent, to 9,429.
• Ford Escape was up 10.6 percent, to 23,012 and Lincoln MKC was up 14.4 percent, to 2,065.
• Explorer was up 13.9 percent, to 17,245. Edge edged up 32.2 percent, to 10,757, and MKX was up 30.2 percent, to 2,451.
• Ford Fusion was off 9.7 percent, to 17,560, and Lincoln MKZ was up 9.3 percent, to 2,541.
• Focus was off 18.4 percent, to 9,130.
• Lincoln sold 1,419 new Continentals, for 3,416 so far.

4. FiatChrysler: 160,827, off 14 percent.

• Ram was the only division to rise, up 12 percent, to 42,511. The pickup was up 8 percent, to 36,885.
• Jeep was off 12 percent, to 67,285, with Grand Cherokee off 2 percent, to 17,230, Cherokee off 37 percent, to 11,479 and Wrangler off 7 percent, to 12,957. Renegade was up 30 percent, to 10,067.
• Dodge was off 21 percent, to 34,075. Charger rose 34 percent, to 9,138, while Journey was off 11 percent, to 7,133.
• Chrysler plunged 47 percent, to 14,518, as 8,753 new Pacificas plus 350 old Town & Countrys failed to keep up with last year’s 12,537 T&Cs. The 300 was off 45 percent, to 2,566 and 200 was off 72 percent, to 2,849.
• Alfa Romeo fell 32 percent, to 23, all of them 4c models. It has sold 7 Giulias so far, though none of them last month.
• Fiat was off 15 percent, to 2,415. The 500 was up 18 percent, to 1,147, though 500X was off 49 percent, to 822. Fiat sold 350 124 Spiders.

5. American Honda, 122,924, up 6.5 percent.

• Honda sold 111,308, up 7.9 percent, and Acura sold 11,616, off 5.1 percent.
• Accord, up 6.3 percent, to 27,182, led CR-V, off 0.7 percent (as its model changes over) to 25,756, with Civic up 1 percent, to 25,303.
• Pilot was off 17.8 percent, to 9,024. Ridgeline was up from 3 last year, to 3,464.
• Acura MDX was up 13 percent, to 4,622 and RDX was up 1.6 percent, to 3,750. TLX was off 23.6 percent, to 2,261.

6. Nissan Group: 115,136, up 7.5 percent.

• Nissan was up 8 percent, to 103,024 and Infiniti was up 3.6 percent, to 12,112.
• Rogue continues to lead the Nissan brand for the year, up 18 percent for the month to 26,629.
• Altima was off 2.6 percent, to 20,039 and Sentra was off 3.3 percent, to 14,028.
• Leaf was up 38.2 percent, to 1,457.
• Pathfinder had a strong month, up 33.5 percent to 6,801, as did Murano, up 36.1 percent, to 7,589.
• Frontier was up 0.1 percent, to 5,105, as Nissan sold 3,329 Titans (up 363 percent).
• Infiniti Q50 was off 11.1 percent, to 3,361, and QX60 was off 14.5 percent, to 3,196.

7. Hyundai: 62,507, up 4.2 percent.

• Includes 61,201 Hyundais and 1,306 Genesises. Er, Genesi?
• Elantra led sales, though off 10.4 percent, to 15,796.
• Sonata was off 8.2 percent, to 15,363.
• Santa Fe took up the slack, up 17.8 percent, to 10,786.

8. Kia: 52,504, up 15.3 percent.

• Soul led, up 24.3 percent, to 12,482.
• Optima was off 5.5 percent, to 12,330.
• Sorento was up 7.5 percent, to 9,698.

9. Subaru: 51,308, up 11.4 percent.

• Despite strong sales, Subaru fell back behind Kia for ninth place last month.
• Outbacks flew off showroom floors, with 17,769 sold, up 35.9 percent.
• Forester was up 6.9 percent, to 14,596. Then Crosstrek, up 21.9 percent, to 8,271.
• WRX/STI was up 4.4 percent, to 2,591, though BRZ fell 37.5 percent, to 235. Combined with the Toyota 86/Scion FR-S, there were 848 rear-drive Toybarus sold, topping the Miata/Fiata by 111.

10. BMW Group: 30,696, off 15.8 percent.

• BMW brand fell 18.2 percent, to 26,189, though Mini was up 1.4 percent, to 4,507.
• 3 Series plummeted 35.8 percent, to 5,411 and 4 Series was off 5.4 percent, to 3,240, while 2 Series dropped 16.7 percent, to 955.
• X5 sales rose 18.4 percent, to 4,693, but X3 was down, 9.1 percent, to 4,535.
• The new Clubman accounts for most of Mini’s gains, up 51,066.7 percent, to 1,535.

11. Mercedes-Benz USA: 30,363, up 1.1 percent.

• Not enough to keep Benz ahead of BMW, as it has been most of the year.
• C-Class, a car, remains its sales leader, up 0.3 percent to 7,261.
• GLE-Class (M) was off 10.6 percent, to 4,694.
• E-Class/CLS was off 10.8 percent, to 4,642. GLC (GLK) was up 218.8 percent, to 3,876.
• Daimler sold 2,564 vans, off 7.4 percent, and 563 Smarts, off 15 percent.

12. Volkswagen: 29,672, up 24.2 percent.

• Resurgent, TDI-free VW grew on the strength of the heavily advertised, facelifted Passat, up 133.5 percent, to 6,441, Golf, up 57.8 percent, to 6,484, and Tiguan, up 15.6 percent, to 4,516.
• Of the Golf total, 2,174 were Sportwagens, up 246.2 percent, to 2,174. VW says this includes the new Alltrack, though doesn’t break out that number.
• Even Beetle was up, by 38.8 percent, to 1,403.

13. Mazda: 22,041, off 3 percent.

• CX-5 was up 1.2 percent, to 8,865. Mazda3 was off 13.7 percent, to 6,388.
• Mazda6 was off 1.4 percent, to 3,046 and CX-9, the new one mostly, was up 65.9 percent, to 1,994
• MX-5 Miata was off 47.1 percent, to 387. Combined with the Fiata, sales of the platform totaled 737, up from 732 Miatas in November ’15.

14. Audi: 17,118, up 2.5 percent.

• Q5 was off 7.4 percent, to 4,187, though A4 was up 30 percent, to 3,143.
• Q7 was up 103.7 percent, to 2,605, while A3 was off 31.9 percent, to 2,063.
• TT was up 36.4 percent, to 240, and R8 was up 530 percent, to 63.

15. Jaguar/Land Rover: 9,040, up 19 percent.

• Jaguar sold 3,381 cars and SUVs, up 217 percent.
• Land Rover sold 6,539 SUVs, off 13 percent from a record November 2015.
• Land Rover sold 1,885 Range Rover Sports.

16. Volvo: 7,723, up 11.9 percent.

• XC90 was up 16.5 percent, to 2,606.
• S60 was up 3.7 percent, to 1,329. Volvo sold 670 S90s.
• XC60 was up 2.4 percent, to 2,127.

17. Mitsubishi: 6,898, up 1.8 percent.

• Outlander Sport was off 20.3 percent, to 2,355, but Outlander was up 29.3 percent, to 2,220.
• Mirage was up 32 percent, to 1,432.

18. Porsche: 5,513, up 23.9 percent.

• Yes, Porsche is an SUV brand, more than a sports car brand. Macan is up 114 percent, to 2,054, and Cayenne is up 3.2 percent, to 1,572.
• As for sports cars, Boxster/Cayman fell 22.3 percent, to 457, and 911 dropped 20.9 percent, to 699. Panamera was up 48.9 percent, to 731.

Luxury/Premium Brands, YTD:

1. Mercedes-Benz 308,226
2. Lexus 290,046
3. BMW 280,339
4. Audi 187,018
5. Acura 144,212

Select Sports Cars and EVs, YTD:

1. Chevrolet Corvette 27,286
2. Chevrolet Volt 21,048
3. Nissan Leaf 12,107
4. Mazda Miata 8,732
5. Toyota 86/Scion FR-S 6,900

Midsize cars, YTD:

1. Toyota Camry 355,204
2. Honda Accord 311,352
3. Nissan Altima 282,617
4. Ford Fusion 246,708
5. Chevrolet Malibu 205,117

Compact CUVs, YTD:

1. Honda CR-V 319,557
2. Toyota RAV4 314,925
3. Nissan Rogue 289,427
4. Ford Escape 281,281
5. Chevrolet Equinox 215,000