Toyota and Honda posted their steepest sales declines in years last month while Nissan continued to struggle and Subaru ended its 93-month winning streak. It was all part of a September that was thrown off course by quirks in the sales-reporting calendar. Ford and Fiat Chrylser also posted declines in the month, estimates show.
The Japanese and Detroit 3 automakers suffered sales declines last month, but some higher-end brands, including Lexus, Volvo and Acura, saw sales spike.
Combined Nissan and Infiniti U.S. deliveries tumbled 18 percent to 101,244 last month, with light trucks off 24 percent and car demand down 5 percent.
Mainstream Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia followed the market downward in September after solid growth for most of the year, while luxury brand Genesis continued sharply higher sales on the introduction of a new model and the build out of its retail network.
Brands: Hyundai down 8.8%; Kia, down 13%; Genesis up 272%
Notable nameplates: Hyundai Elantra down 27%; Hyundai Kona up 22%; Hyundai Palisade, 3,495 units (new model); Kia Soul down 43%; Kia Sportage down 2%; Kia Telluride, 5,049 units (new model); Genesis G70, 871 units (new model); Genesis G80, up 47%.
Incentives: Hyundai, $2,655 per vehicle, down 7.5% from a year earlier; Kia, $3,619 per vehicle, down 4.6%, ALG says.
Average transaction price: Hyundai, $24,231, up 9.2% from a year earlier; Kia, $24,266, up 7.4% from a year earlier, according to ALG.
Quote: Randy Parker, vice president of national sales, Hyundai Motor America. "While the September year-over-year results were skewed because of the Labor Day weekend timing and two fewer selling days, we were pleased with the efforts of our entire team and retail partners in achieving growth in the third quarter. Once the final numbers from our competitors are reported, we anticipate gaining market share for the quarter and on the year."
Did you know? The new Genesis retail network currently stands at 341 locations.
Volkswagen sales fell 12 percent in September to 26,947 vehicles, despite strong increases from both Tiguan and Atlas. Meanwhile, Audi sales fell 17 percent, despite recoveries from the A6 and Q3.
Brands: Volkswagen down 12%; Audi down 17%
Notable nameplates: Volkswagen Jetta down 24%, Tiguan up 11%, Atlas up 41%; Audi Q5 down 41%, A4 down 25%, Q7 down 19%
Incentives (including Porsche): $3,607 per vehicle, down 6.2% from a year earlier, ALG says.
Average transaction price (including Porsche): $41,612, up 2.4% from a year earlier, according to ALG.
Quote: "Our SUV sales continue to drive our growth. We expect the start of production on the redesigned Passat to give our sedan sales a boost, and along with the upcoming [Atlas] Cross Sport, set us up for success in 2020," said Werner Eichhorn, chief sales and marketing officer for Volkswagen of America.
Did you know? With three remaining months of sales reporting to go, year-to-date sales of the Volkswagen Atlas (59,705) have already topped the three-row crossover's 2018 total sales of 59,677.
The appointment of Robert Grafton comes five months after Hyundai named former Nissan executive Jose Munoz as global COO and North American CEO.
