The sales figures for the all-important September plate-change have just been released, but most manufacturers will be wishing that they hadn’t been.
Across all segments, sales were down by a whopping 21.2 per cent, or almost 90,000 units compared to September 2007, making this the worst single fall ever recorded.
The news was made worse by the fact the figures show a big swing from profitable large cars to low-margin small ones, with both SUVs and luxury cars down by over 40 per cent, while sales of city cars grew by 17 per cent.
The hardest hit manufacturer was Chrysler, with sales across the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands dropping by 56.3 per cent. Renault endured an even worse month, dropping 50.8 per cent compared to the same month last year – a fall of over 10,000 units.
Indeed, the combined French decline of over 21,000 units in a single month accounted for 23.7% of the total sales fall. At last week’s Paris Show, Renault boss Carlos Ghosn said that these were the worst conditions since 1929 – and these figures confirm his view.
While it is no surprise that sales off off-roaders are down, it is striking that manufacturers of smaller but less popular models are suffering just as badly.
Both Alfa Romeo and Saab are both down by more than 40 per cent, despite having lots of economical diesel models to choose from.
In terms of overall sales, Ford was the biggest loser. Its per centage fall of 23.04 per cent is relatively good against the rest of the market, but the company’s leading status in the UK market means that equates to 13,400 fewer vehicles being sold this September compared to last year.
Amidst the gloom, bright spots are few and far between. Only three manufacturers showed a September sales improvement year-on-year. Audi will be delighted to have increased sales by 1.38 per cent while rivals BMW and Mercedes fell by 24.11 per cent and 9.15 per cent respectively.
Jaguar’s year-on-year increase of 3.38 per cent proves just how popular the new XF has been, while demand for city cars has boosted Smart’s numbers, the brand recording a 9.26 per cent increase.
| Top five losers | ||
| Chrysler | -56.3% | |
| Renault | -50.8% | |
| Land Rover | -49.7% | |
| Saab | -46.2% | |
| Alfa Romeo | -44.0% | |
| Top five winner | ||
| Smart | 9.3% | |
| Jaguar | 3.4% | |
| Audi | 1.4% | |
| Mazda | -1.6% | |
| Kia | -4.9% | |
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Re: Car sales slump
The Jaguar result was interesting. I think they should drop all the other models and replace them with a Boxster / Cayman rival. (And make sure a manual gearbox is an option)
Sorry if some of you Jag fans are spilling your G and T's, but you never know, they could even make a profit if they looked fondly back at their past instead of trying to inhabit it. I'm 54 and years ago thought that I might want a jag by now, but it's never happened so I'm still getting my fix in Porsches. Might buy an Elise next.... Bugger growing up.
Re: Car sales slump
And the times they are a chang'in.
Lightweight cars please, thank you. The old Toyota Starlet, rear wheel drive and under 900kg seems very inticing with a 4a-ge engine!! Performance, economy and lots of fun.
Re: Car sales slump
The headline is misleading. The figures you are quoting are registrations not sales. A tour of the fields near any car manufacturer/large dealer will show you the difference.