Marques hit by US sales slump

Major marques have seen vehicle sales tumble in the US during the second quarter of 2020.

Toyota, Nissan, Ford, General Motors and Fiat were just some of the carmakers whose latest figures were well down compared to trade levels during the corresponding April to June period a year ago.

The impact of Covid-19 is being blamed for the decline in activity in the US, with the quarter tipped to be the one worst affected by the pandemic as consumers stayed at home and dealerships and factories were forced to shut.

Nissan suffered a 49.5 per cent plunge in vehicle sales for the quarter, Toyota’s business decreased 34.6 per cent and Ford saw activity fall by 33.3 per cent.

For other carmakers, GM’s sales dropped 34 per cent, Fiat’s 38.6 per cent, Hyundai’s 23.7 per cent, Volkswagen’s 29 per cent and Porsche’s 19.9 per cent. 

While there are signs of consumers returning to the market for vehicles, the loss of fleet sales is hurting many marques in the US. Jeff Kommor, head of US sales for Fiat Chrysler, says a number of fleet sales have been “cancelled or delayed”, reports Zero Hedge.

Tesla beats expectations

Tesla withstood the economic difficulties better than most of its rivals and says it delivered about 90,650 vehicles in the second quarter of 2020, surpassing Wall Street expectations.

Analysts had been predicting the electric carmaker would deliver about 72,000 units between June and April. 

Deliveries are the closest approximation of sales numbers reported by Tesla, and these fell by just 4.8 per cent from the same quarter last year. 

Tesla did not break down deliveries by country but reported combined figures of 80,050 Model 3 sedans and Model Y cross-over SUVs, and combined deliveries of 10,600 of the older and more expensive Model S and X vehicles.