January auto sales roundup: Passat remains competitive, analysts dub Chrysler "comeback kid"
The locally made Passat is hanging with its more well-established competitors, according to Edmunds.com analysts and January sales figures.
"The new Passat may not be delivering the sales numbers of Camry or Accord but is contributing nicely to the bottom line for Volkswagen," Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst with Edmunds, said in an email. "Also, Passat creates productive sales synergy with the Jetta at the point of purchase. Growing sales in these big volume segments will have to happen for VW to achieve its weighty sales targets in 2012."
Volkswagen Chattanooga recently announced that the company will be adding 200 more jobs to meet production-capacity needs.
The new jobs will be integrated into Volkswagen’s current two-shift operation and filled by full-time Volkswagen employees, VW leaders said in a news release.
The Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga currently employs more than 2,500 people.
Leaders with VW recently announced that they sold more than 8 million vehicles in 2011, which exceeded many people's expectations.
Now the company wants to sell 500,000 more vehicles in 2012 and 10 million vehicles worldwide by 2018.
Senior analyst for Edmunds Michelle Krebs said that Ford priced the Focus and Fiesta high, and unit sales have not been strong.
Analysts said that Ford's competition is stiffer this year and that leaders have been selling the Escape by offering high incentives.
"Ford insists they want to maintain profit margins, but will the company be forced to offer more incentives to move those cars?" Krebs said.
It hasn't been an outstanding year for GM, but the company is showing strength in sales in small vehicles, such as the Equinox, Cruze and Malibu, Caldwell said in an email.
Those are competitive segments, but GM is staying strong, she said.
"GM has a tough year-over-year comparison as the company did not match its high incentive spend from last January," she said. "In fact, GM's overall incentives spend is forecasted to be down 14 percent year-over-year."
Honda
Honda's Civic and CR-V are proving successful, analysts said.
They helped the company post "impressive gains over last January," Caldwell said.
"CR-V and Civic make up a high volume of Honda sales," she said. "If those models do well, Honda will do well overall."
Krebs said that Honda's Accord also showed a small sales increase.
"The gains are coming from the Optima midsize sedan and quirky Soul, with the just-revamped Rio helping out as well," Krebs said. "However, other models in Kia's line are down from a year ago. It will be a challenge for the Korean brands to keep their momentum in this competitive marketplace."
Nissan
Subaru
After recovering from last year's earthquake, Subaru is off to a strong start, Krebs said.
"At this pace, it could mark another consecutive year of record sales," she said.
Toyota
The Camry is carrying Toyota, analysts said.
"Right now, Camry is Toyota's most important vehicle by a mile, and it's the one vehicle that can single-handedly bring their market share up from the recent low in 2011," Caldwell said.
“Chrysler is the surprising 'comeback kid'—again," Krebs said. "When Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy, there were plenty of skeptics, but the automaker has proven them wrong. Since detailing its plan for the future in November 2009, Chrysler has done everything it said it would, creating an impressive recent track record and providing confidence that it will meet its 2012 goals.”
