Five top automakers reported sharp declines in the second quarter new car sales in the United States due to demand destruction by COVID-19, but not as bad as initially forecast. In contrast, electric vehicle (EV)maker Tesla, Inc. reported a sales hike despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA), Hyundai Motor Company, the Ford Motor Company, General Motors Company, and Toyota Motor Corporation all revealed record-high sales reductions in the second quarter. In line with this trend, overall car sales in the United States plummeted by a third in Q2.
GM reported a 34% sales plunge year-on-year. It said demand improved in May and June but not enough to rescue its sales for the quarter. GM delivered 492,489 vehicles in the U.S. in Q2.
Sales in April fell 35% year-on-year. Sales in May and June were some 20% lower year-on-year.
Toyota revealed a 34.6% overall plunge in sales. It sold 35.6% fewer new vehicles in the U.S. in Q2 compared to Q2 2019, while Lexus reported a 26.8% sales plunge.
The largest sales decline was recorded by the Toyota Mirai, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV), which experienced a 90% sales plunge. Sales of the Toyota Sienna minivan crashed 76%.
FCA sales plummeted a massive 39% compared to the same period in 2019. On the other hand, FCA said sales for May and June were higher than expected.
FCA also reported a jump in online sales. It revealed some 20% of its new vehicle sales began online compared to only 1% at this time in 2019.
FCA said Americans were quite interested in its new Jeep Gladiator midsize pickup truck manufactured by the Jeep division of FCA U.S. Jeep Gladiator sales jumped 174% in Q2. Despite this cheerful news, FCA sales are 26% lower year-on-year.
Hyundai Motor's Q2 sales tumbled 23.7% to 141,722 units compared to a year ago. Sales crashed at 21.9% in June.
Hyundai's sales are down 18% year-to-date, mostly due to fleet sales tanking by 93%. Sales of the Hyundai Genesis executive four-door, five-passenger, full-size luxury sedan fell 38% in Q2.
Ford sold 433,869 new motor vehicles in Q2 but still saw its total vehicle sales crash 33.3% year-on-year. Sales of Ford-branded vehicles dropped 33.9%; Lincoln was down 18%. Ford's fleet sales hit a record low, plunging by a sickening 94%. Other commercial fleet sales fell 78%.
Despite this bad news, Ford could brag its share of the overall retail market had risen to 13.3%. Ford said this was its best retail share quarter in five years.
Tesla said it delivered 20,000 more EVs in Q2 than expected by industry analysts despite closing down its Fremont Factory in California from March to May.
Tesla delivered 90,650 EVs, exceeding Wall Street analysts' expectations by 20,000 EVs.Tesla's deliveries were only 5% lower than those in Q2 2019. Tesla's shares on Wall Street jumped as much as 10% following the news.
