U.S. Car Sales Slip 1%

Sales of cars and light-duty trucks in the U.S. dipped to 1.51 million units in May from 1.53 million in the same month last year, Autodata Corp. reports. The annualized sales rate fell to 16.6 million from 17.2 million.

Deliveries by Detroit’s traditional brands were flat at 666,900 units last month. General Motors and Chrysler posted 1% declines to 237,200 units and 189,500 units, respectively. Ford’s sales rose 2% to 240,300 vehicles.

Asian brands saw overall sales in May decline by 1% to 714,300 cars and trucks. Volume dropped for Toyota (-1% to 218,200 units), Hyundai (-16% to 60,000), Mazda (-8% to 26,000) and Kia (-7% to 58,500). Brands reporting gains were Honda (+1% to 148,400 vehicles), Nissan (+3% to 137,500), Subaru (+12% to 56,100) and Mitsubishi (+5% to 9,400).

Demand for European brands fell 6% to 127,100 vehicles last month. Sales climbed 4% to 30,000 units for Volkswagen and 1% to 19,200 for Audi. But deliveries fell for Mercedes-Benz (-7% to 30,000) and BMW (-11% to 25,800 units).

Buyer interest in passenger cars continued to slide in May, falling 10% to 581,300 units for a 42% share of the U.S. market. Light-truck volume, which includes SUV/crossover vehicles, climbed 6% to 931,000 units.

Seven of the top 10 sellers last month were large pickup trucks (Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado and Ram) and small crossover vehicles (Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue, Toyota RAV4 and Ford Escape), Autodata notes.