"Growing Economy?" Auto Sales Fell All Over the World in June

July 3, 2007 (LPAC)--Against forecasts and "expectations" of an auto sales rise in June, U.S. sales appear to have fallen 3% from a year ago's low levels, and auto sales fell more steeply in France, Germany, and Japan.

In the United States, 16 automakers, alphabetically from Audi to Volkswagen, reported that they sold 1,428,163 cars and light trucks in June, down 5% from the previous month and down 2.95% from their June 2006 total of 1,469,030 units. Up to the last few days, auto analysts had been forecasting an increase in June sales, because the automakers have returned to substantial dealer incentives and discounts to move their inventories. But it could not revive the exhausted U.S. household debt bubble. GM and Ford had substantial declines; Chrysler, which was expected to report an increase, said its sales fell 1.8% instead. Japanese automakers increased in their U.S. sales, but Korean automakers' sales fell.

In France, June auto sales were announced as 3.2% down from one year ago. In Germany, the drop was 7.0%, according to the auto industry confederation, which is now forecasting that German sales for the year will wind up 8.6% lower than the level of 2006. And in Japan--despite the Japanese automakers' rising sales in the United States--total sales were down 11% from a year earlier, making June the 14th straight month of falling sales.