July saw a bit of a lift in car sales. What a difference a year makes; last year, this level of car sales would have seemed disasterous. After the last six months, they feel not bad at all.
For our largest end customers, here’s July 2009 as compared to July 2008:
CHRYSLER -9.4%
FORD +2.4%
GM -19.4%
HONDA -17.3%
TOYOTA -11.4%
With the horrible first 6 months of 2009 behind us now, it is interesting to compare auto sales to auto manufacturing.
For SCG’s largest customers, the comparison below is illuminating.
SALES vs PRODUCTION
CHRYSLER -46% vs -85%
FORD -32% vs -54%
GM -40% vs -70%
HONDA -33% vs -54%
TOYOTA -38% vs -48%
For carmakers and suppliers, the first six months of 2009 were clearly more painful than car sales themselves would lead one to believe.
