Edmunds.com Forecasts Auto Sales; Reports Annual Sales Down
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Edmunds.com Forecasts Auto Sales; Reports Annual Sales Down
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — December 21, 2006 — This month's new vehicle sales (including fleet sales) are expected to be 1.38 million units, a 6.2 percent decrease from December 2005, according to Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information. This would result in total industry sales of 16.46 million units for 2006, down 2.8 percent from 16.93 million units in 2005.
"This year-over-year decline is not a surprise. The drop of approximately 400,000 units is largely attributed to the production cuts that the domestics announced at the beginning of the year," said Jesse Toprak, Executive Director of Industry Analysis for Edmunds.com. "We didn't expect an increase in sales for the year since the cost of gasoline and other economic trends made many people hesitate before buying a new car in 2006."
This December had 26 selling days, one less than last December 2005. When adjusted for this difference, sales decreased 2.6 percent from December 2005. (The chart below sets forth other unadjusted and adjusted comparisons.)
Change from December 2005 (Adjusted for less selling days) |
Change from December 2005 (Unadjusted for less selling days) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Chrysler | -3.1% |
-6.7% |
| Ford | -16.5% |
-19.6% |
| GM | -1.5% |
-5.2% |
| Honda | 0.0% |
-3.7% |
| Nissan | -2.6% |
-6.2% |
| Toyota | 11.4% |
7.3% |
| Industry Total | -2.6% |
-6.2% |
The combined monthly U.S. market share for Chrysler, Ford and General Motors (GM) domestic nameplates is estimated to be 54.3 percent in December 2006, down from 56.6 percent in December 2005 and up slightly from 53.2 percent from November 2006.
Edmunds.com predicts Chrysler will sell 177,000 units in December 2006, up 7.4 percent compared to November 2006. This would result in a new car market share of 12.7 percent for Chrysler in December 2006, down slightly from 12.8 percent in December 2005 and down from 13.8 percent in November 2006.
Edmunds.com predicts Ford will sell 210,000 units in December 2006, up 19.4 percent compared to November 2006. This would result in a market share of 15.2 percent of new car sales in December 2006 for Ford, down from 17.7 percent in December 2005 and up slightly from 14.8 percent in November 2006.
Edmunds.com predicts GM will sell 365,000 units in December 2006, up 24.2 percent compared to November 2006. GM's market share is expected to be 26.4 percent of new vehicle sales in December 2006, up slightly from 26.1 percent in December 2005 and up from 24.6 percent in November 2006.
Edmunds.com predicts Honda will sell 128,000 units in December 2006, up 20.1 percent from November 2006. Its market share is expected to be 9.2 percent in December 2006, up from 9.0 percent in December 2005 and up from 8.9 percent in November 2006.
Edmunds.com predicts Nissan will sell 86,000 units in December 2006, up 12.6 percent from November 2006. Nissan's market share is expected to be 6.2 percent in December 2006, unchanged from December 2005 and down slightly from 6.4 percent in November 2006.
Edmunds.com predicts Toyota will sell 218,000 units in December 2006, up 10.9 percent from November 2006. Toyota's market share is expected to be 15.7 percent in December 2006, up from 13.7 percent in December 2005 and down from 16.5 percent from November 2006.
About Edmunds
Edmunds publishes three Web sites that empower, engage and educate automotive consumers and enthusiasts. Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive consumer information, launched in 1995 as the first automotive information Web site. Its most popular feature, the Edmunds.com True Market Value®, is relied upon by millions of people seeking current transaction prices for new and used vehicles. Edmunds.com was named "Best Car Research Site" by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by consumers as the "Most Useful Web Site" according to every J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Study(SM), was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites by The Wall Street Journal and was rated "#1" in Keynote's study of third-party automotive Web sites. Inside Line launched in January 2005 and is the most-read automotive enthusiast Web site. CarSpace launched in February 2006 and is an automotive lifestyle social networking Web site for anyone with an interest in automobiles. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit.
