Photo: Toyota Motor Corporation
The second quarter and first-half sales reports are in for the automakers active in the United States car market - and most Asian carmakers posted glorious results with a few notable exceptions.
It wasn't a stellar Q2 for the US automotive market – according to predictions from specialists, deliveries rose just 0.1% as people don't like the ever-higher prices, and in June, software for dealership sales papers was crippled by cyberattacks. However, analysts claim we're on trend to reach around 16 million units this year compared to 15.6 million in 2023.
General Motors has kept its lead across the US market – although barely. In fact, just a smidge over 100k sales is between them and Toyota as the American company totaled 1,290,319 units after the first six months of the year via a 0.4% slowdown, and its Japanese pursuer rose no less than 14.3% to 1,186,647 examples. Lexus was also up by 11.9 percent to 167,211 vehicles.
"The first half of 2024 surpassed our high expectations thanks to our teams' continued focus on customers with even more great products, including electrified vehicles," said Jack Hollis, executive vice president of sales, TMNA. "Lexus recorded its best-ever first half in its 35-year history, Toyota remains the number one retail brand in the industry, and our diverse portfolio of 29 electrified vehicle options between the Toyota and Lexus brands made up nearly 40 percent of our total sales volume through June."
Other Asian carmakers thrived – with a few notable exceptions. American Honda announced its year-to-date results are positive – up 9.3% compared to the first six months of 2023 with a total of 690,281 vehicles. Naturally, the namesake Honda brand took the lion's share with 626,266 units and a rise of 12.3%. Meanwhile, Acura is still not out of the woods – they dropped 13.1% to 64,015 units.
"We are pleased to see our sales momentum continue through the second quarter, with strong demand for both Honda and Acura models despite the software cyberattack impacting auto dealers nationwide," said Lance Woelfer, vice president of Auto Sales at American Honda Motor Co. Inc. "As we begin to ramp up sales of our all-electric Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX, the flexible strategy of offering fuel-efficient petrol, hybrid-electric and EV models are helping us meet the needs of our customers."
Next up comes the Nissan Group, which reported a similar performance, with the Nissan brand posting positive results and Infiniti slumping. Overall, the Japanese automaker rose slightly by 1.9% to a total of 489,456 units – 461,429 (+3%) came from Nissan and 28,027 (-13.2%) from Infiniti. The South Koreans from Hyundai and Kia posted similar results – the former rose by 1.2% during the first half of the year to 399,523 units, while the latter slipped from 394,333 vehicles during H1 of 2023 to 386,460 examples during the first six months of 2024.
Last but not least, Subaru of America is a brighter Japanese star than ever – a six percent increase in H1 sales led to a total of 322,443 deliveries. Now, to put that into the proper perspective, its eternal foe – Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA), closed the first six months of the year with "strong" sales of just 51,130 units! That's 12.3% better than last year – but also a far cry from Subie's performance, right?
General Motors has kept its lead across the US market – although barely. In fact, just a smidge over 100k sales is between them and Toyota as the American company totaled 1,290,319 units after the first six months of the year via a 0.4% slowdown, and its Japanese pursuer rose no less than 14.3% to 1,186,647 examples. Lexus was also up by 11.9 percent to 167,211 vehicles.
"The first half of 2024 surpassed our high expectations thanks to our teams' continued focus on customers with even more great products, including electrified vehicles," said Jack Hollis, executive vice president of sales, TMNA. "Lexus recorded its best-ever first half in its 35-year history, Toyota remains the number one retail brand in the industry, and our diverse portfolio of 29 electrified vehicle options between the Toyota and Lexus brands made up nearly 40 percent of our total sales volume through June."
Other Asian carmakers thrived – with a few notable exceptions. American Honda announced its year-to-date results are positive – up 9.3% compared to the first six months of 2023 with a total of 690,281 vehicles. Naturally, the namesake Honda brand took the lion's share with 626,266 units and a rise of 12.3%. Meanwhile, Acura is still not out of the woods – they dropped 13.1% to 64,015 units.
"We are pleased to see our sales momentum continue through the second quarter, with strong demand for both Honda and Acura models despite the software cyberattack impacting auto dealers nationwide," said Lance Woelfer, vice president of Auto Sales at American Honda Motor Co. Inc. "As we begin to ramp up sales of our all-electric Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX, the flexible strategy of offering fuel-efficient petrol, hybrid-electric and EV models are helping us meet the needs of our customers."
Next up comes the Nissan Group, which reported a similar performance, with the Nissan brand posting positive results and Infiniti slumping. Overall, the Japanese automaker rose slightly by 1.9% to a total of 489,456 units – 461,429 (+3%) came from Nissan and 28,027 (-13.2%) from Infiniti. The South Koreans from Hyundai and Kia posted similar results – the former rose by 1.2% during the first half of the year to 399,523 units, while the latter slipped from 394,333 vehicles during H1 of 2023 to 386,460 examples during the first six months of 2024.
Last but not least, Subaru of America is a brighter Japanese star than ever – a six percent increase in H1 sales led to a total of 322,443 deliveries. Now, to put that into the proper perspective, its eternal foe – Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA), closed the first six months of the year with "strong" sales of just 51,130 units! That's 12.3% better than last year – but also a far cry from Subie's performance, right?
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