Glimmers of hope seen in auto sales numbers
Automakers are continuing to slither through a hellish market but the latest Canadian sales numbers offer hope that the agony is abating.
And those same figures restore General Motors to its traditional industry leadership.
Total sales were down 15 per cent nationally last month compared with March 2008, according to a tally released today by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.
Analyst Dennis DesRosiers observed that this is negative but nevertheless "is a significant improvement from the last few months when sales were down in the mid-20 per cent range."
And compared with February’s abysmal results, last month’s sales were higher by 59 per cent. Car dealers normally start to get busier seasonally in March, but not usually by nearly that much.
Also on the bright side, DesRosiers noted that automakers say their low-profit sales to rental companies and other fleets were down 30 to 40 per cent from a year ago, "which would mean that retail consumer sales were likely down only in the single-digit range."
DesRosiers counted March sales of cars, pickups, minivans and SUVs at 127,489, down from 150,024 in March 2008.
General Motors of Canada, one of the two North American carmakers seeking billions of dollars in aid from the federal and Ontario governments, saw its sales fall by 17.6 per cent. That was good enough to return GM to its usual position as the industry sales leader, after Chrysler Canada had briefly usurped this status in February, dropping GM to No. 2 for the first month since at least the early 1950s.
Chrysler, also pleading for taxpayer help to survive, skidded hardest last month among the Detroit Three with a year-over-year decline of 26.6 per cent.
"Dealers tell me that the buying public reacted very poorly to the threat to leave Canada and this likely cost Chrysler some volume," DesRosiers commented.
He was referring to a statement by Chrysler president Tom LaSorda on March 11 that the automaker might shut its Canadian plants unless it can slash labour costs, settle a tax dispute and get a US$2 business
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