New Car Sales Off 2.1% in July; Imports Skid
DETROIT — Sales of new cars fell 2.1% in July, as imports suffered from higher prices and domestic auto makers felt the effect of a worsening shortage of popular models, the industry reported Wednesday.
Auto industry analysts, however, expressed satisfaction with the sales numbers and said consumer demand still seems high.
“We’re running out of 1988 cars,” said Christopher Cedergren, an automotive analyst with J. D. Power & Associates in Westlake Village. “It’s the first time in many years that the auto manufacturers won’t need to have a ‘fire sale’ to get rid of cars” at the end of a model year.
One reason for the relative strength of the auto market may be the “buy-in-advance” effect, analysts said. Economists have been warning that interest and finance rates are going to rise, and that could be influencing consumers to buy their cars earlier than they originally planned, to avoid higher finance charges.
Imports Down 11.6%
“For the remainder of the year we will see increased interest rates . . . you’ll see sales slip but it will not be a dramatic fall,” said Theodore Sullivan, an industry analyst with WEFA Group, a Bala Cynwyd, Pa., forecasting firm. “This talk of finance and interest rates coming up causes people to buy early to avoid the price increases which are coming up,” added Thomas O’Grady, an auto analyst with Integrated Automotive Resources, a Wayne, Pa., market research firm.
The total auto industry, including imports, sold 859,046 passenger cars during the month, compared to 912,835 units last year. Imports suffered an 11.6% decrease--to 256,500 this July from 301,800 last year. The import decline was largely attributed by analysts to price increases related to the appreciation of the Japanese yen and West German mark against the dollar.
The domestic auto industry, meanwhile, reported a 2.6% gain, rising to 611,035 units this year from 602,546 in 1987 .
AUTO SALES Percentage changes in auto sales for the month of July are based on daily rates rather than total sales volume. There were 25 selling days in the current period and 26 in the year-ago period.
% July 1988 change GM 288,317 -2.8 Ford 181,332 +5.7 Chrysler 84,154 +13.7 Honda US 29,125 +15.2 Nissan US 10,161 -3.6 Toyota US 6,434 +103.4 Mazda US 3,023 -- Domestic 602,546 +2.6 Toyota Imp. 59,602 +16.2 Nissan Imp. 27,246 -18.7 Honda Imp. 35,042 -1.5 Mazda 19,078 -1.0 Subaru 11,471 -17.7 VW 11,831 -41.3 Volvo 8,685 +3.6 Hyundai 18,160 -38.0 Mitsubishi 5,840 -13.0 Others 59,545 -17.4 Imports* 256,500 -11.6 Total US 859,046 -2.1
