August sales results: Three win, the rest lose

As expected, August is shaping up to be one of the worst months in recent history for new car sales. Although several automakers have yet to report August’s numbers, as of now, only three automakers have posted sales gains, none of which are named Honda.

Although Honda has been posting sales improvements month after month, it looks as though its momentum has run out. Honda sales fell 7.3 percent in August, most of which can be attributed to a lack of inventory. Honda vehicles have been selling so well that the Japanese automaker is literally running out of new vehicles. Add in the switch over to the new Fit, and Honda could remain flat for the rest of the year.

Toyota also had an off month, with sales falling 9.4 percent, but, unlike Honda, more of that decrease is related to Toyota’s vulnerability in the SUV and truck segments.

As predicted, Chrysler has posted the biggest decline of the major automakers. During August, Chrysler’s new car sales fell by 34.5 percent. Ford’s sales fell second most of the Big Three, with a drop off of 28.6 percent. General Motors is not far off that pace with a 20.3 percent fall in sales, but the automaker’s end of month incentives likely kept that number from being in the 30s.

Of note, Porsche’s August sales were off by more than 44 percent, possibly indicating that luxury brands are starting to feel the economic slowdown.

The only winners for August – so far — were BMW, Nissan and Subaru, with improvements of 1, 13.6 and 14.2 percent, respectively.

Overall, the market fell by 15.5 percent in August.