- Production and supply chain issues continue to impact volumes in July.
- Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota and Volvo all reported lower sales in July 2022, versus the same period last year.
- There were a few gains, including Ford (up 35.5% month-over-month), Lincoln (up 64.5%) and Genesis (up 0.4%).
- Some automakers (including General Motors and Stellantis) only report quarterly – those figures will be available in October.
It continues to be a rough time for new car sales.
High prices, supply issues and a relative lack of volume continue to hamper this year’s car sales. That frustrating reality remained in July, as some carmakers roll out the month’s delivery figures. While companies are keen to emphasize strong retail demand, the overall trend points downward for those companies that reported July delivery numbers – with one notable exception.
Toyota, the largest automaker among this month’s sales report figures, slid 20.9% month-over-month from July 2021. While sales in that month last year totaled 193,855 (that figure is brand-wide, so it does include trucks), dealers managed to shift 153,288 units in July 2022. Lexus fared about as well, with its brand-wide deliveries decreased by 22.8% (from 31,167 in July 2021 to 24,053 last month).
Mind you, that’s not as substantial a drop as Honda and Acura. In fact, Honda’s July 2022 report reflects a 46% slide (65,162 versus 120,692 last July). Acura performed worse still, as it was down 59.1% month-over-month (6,073 versus 14,850). While Acura did introduce the Integra – and it was the brand’s third best-selling model last month – the now defunct ILX, the TLX and even the brand’s popular RDX and MDX crossovers pulled the division’s delivery numbers down substantially.
Hyundai and Kia have some interesting points in their sales mix
Generally, both Hyundai and Kia also reported smaller sales figures. The Hyundai brand, for its part, slid 11.5% month-over-month from July 2021 (60,631 sales versus 68,500 at this point last year). Kia is down 10.9% in the July 2022 report (62,449 versus 70,099 brand-wide). However, the Korean automaker’s Genesis luxury brand was up ever so slightly – 0.4% – last month (5,203 sales, versus 5,180 in July 2021).
Diving into individual model sales, sales of the economy-minded Hyundai Accent increased substantially. In fact, retail Accent sales were up 111%, with 3,910 buyers getting into the brand’s most affordable car. Tuscon sales (as well as the Tucson-based Santa Cruz) were also up, by 24% and 3,358% respectively. While July 2022 represents a full sales month versus this point last year, the Santa Cruz is working its way toward being one of Hyundai’s more popular models. Hyundai had no fleet sales in July 2022, so these figures fully reflect retail buyers.
Kia saw a similar trend with its SUVs. The Sorento (9,473 in July 2021; 5,750 in July 2021) and the redesigned Sportage (11,985 in July 2022 vs. 10,626 in July 2021) markedly gained ground, while the Telluride lost a few hundred buyers (so did the Hyundai Palisade). Here, though, folks did not go for the diminutive Kia Rio, unlike the Accent. Rio sales were down 40% month-over-month.
Ford and Lincoln sales surged in July
The chip shortage hammered domestic automakers in 2021, and we’re still seeing the fallout through this year. However, Ford dealers were able to deliver far more vehicles last month, as the automaker’s July 2022 sales report looks significantly more positive.
Month-over-month, Ford brand sales (like Toyota, this does include trucks) improved 35.5%, to 156,974 units from just 115,816 in July 2021. Lincoln did even better percentage wise, moving 6,968 cars versus 4,237 last July: a 64.5% increase.
You may expect the usual suspects helped Ford rally, namely the ever-popular Explorer, the Bronco (and Bronco Sport) and the F-Series. And you’d be right — those four saw their delivery numbers improve by at least 32.4% (in the Explorer’s case). Bronco and Bronco Sport sales increased by 224.1% and 229.9% month-over-month, respectively.
Fortunately for Ford, folks are also choosing most of its other models too. The Escape and the Edge, both of which had largely lost ground over the past two years, did pick up in July. Escape deliveries, in fact, more than doubled (+138%, to 9,854 sales) from July 2021. In total, Ford SUVs gained 70% over this point last year.
Year-to-date results
Despite Ford Motor Company’s summer surge, however, sales figures across the industry indicate a downward trend from last year. As supply chain constraints continue to affect the industry, we’ll likely continue to see low inventory and high retail prices in the coming months.
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