smart sales down 18% globally in October

[spdickey]

The news was worse at Mercedes’ sister company Smart, which managed to sell just 9300 units globally, down almost 18 per cent on October 2008.

Ouch!

http://www.caradvice.com.au/47444/me...up-in-october/

[chieftmc]

Originally Posted by spdickey

The news was worse at Mercedes’ sister company Smart, which managed to sell just 9300 units globally, down almost 18 per cent on October 2008.

Ouch!

http://www.caradvice.com.au/47444/me...up-in-october/

That's 9,300 units GLOBALLY; that is OUCH

[HGB]

We should compare this drop to the rest of other auto sales around the world too. Then the truth will come out.

[jwight]

Ford seemed to do OK last month:

THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

* Ford again increased year-over-year market share in North America, South America, and Europe and continued to achieve improvements in transaction prices and margins. Ford maintained market share in the Asia Pacific Africa region and Volvo gained market share. Other sales highlights:
o In the U.S., third quarter market share increased 2.2 percentage points compared to last year as the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands all posted sales gains
o Ford Europe’s market share was 9.2 percent for the quarter, up 0.6 points from last year and the highest third-quarter level in 10 years. Market share was 10.1 percent in September, the highest monthly share in eight years
o Record growth in China continued as Ford third quarter sales jumped 63 percent
o At the end of the third quarter, worldwide sales of the new Ford Fiesta reached 470,000* units since its launch last fall. The No. 2 best-selling car in Europe posted its highest September sales since 1994. In September, Fiesta also had its best sales month ever in China. Fiesta arrives in the U.S. market in 2010
o Began selling the new Ford Taurus and Transit Connect in North America. Taurus sales in September were up 60 percent from a year ago
o The Ford Focus and Ford Escape were among the top new vehicles purchased in the U.S. government’s “Cash for Clunkers” program
o Ford’s U.S. hybrid sales have risen 73 percent this year compared to a 14 percent decline in U.S. hybrid industry sales. More than 60 percent of Ford Fusion hybrid sales have come from non-Ford owners

FORD POSTS Q3 2009 NET INCOME OF $1 BILLION; CASH FLOW TURNS POSITI ... - Press Release - Ford

* the Fiesta has now sold over half a million units: http://media.ford.com/article_displa...ticle_id=31291

[forestacademy]

Shh, Don't tell those that think the recesion is over.

[BobDiaz]

Given that we are sitting close to the bottom of the bucket right now as far as the recession. The number may look bad, BUT when viewed in context to the current conditions, they aren't a real shock. (I'd love to know how GM is doing. )

Conditions change, so a year from now, things might be very different. There are predictions of gas prices going up again. That may or may not happen, but if the prices do go up again, interest in the smaller high MPG cares increases.

As the recession ends, the number of cars being sold should go up. For now, people are avoiding spending when possible.


Bob Diaz

[Mike T]

Well that's an extrapolated rate of over 110,000 cars per year, which prior to 2007 and 2008 would have been an annual sales record for smart.

Only 18% reduction is not bad at all compared to the total collapse in smart's USA sales!

[pmolink]

Originally Posted by jwight

Ford seemed to do OK last month:

The Ford numbers were for the Third Quarter... which included the Cash for Clunkers windfall. The Smart numbers were for October only (beginning of the new Quarter after C for C).