U.S. Car Sales Shrank 3% in June

Deliveries of new cars and light trucks in the U.S. declined last month to 1.47 million units from 1.52 million vehicles in June 2016, Autodata Corp. reports. The annualized selling rate for the month was 16.5 million units, compared with 16.8 million a year earlier.

Last month marked the sixth consecutive month of year-on-year shrinkage in light-vehicle sales in the U.S.

Traditional domestic brands fell 6% to 658,000 vehicles last month. Sales dropped 5% to 242,900 units for General Motors, 5% to 227,200 units for Ford and 8% to 184,100 for Chrysler. Results were dragged down by sharp declines in demand for cars, as volume plunged 38% to 50,800 units for GM, 23% to 52,700 cars for Ford and 20% to 21,400 vehicles for Chrysler.

Overall deliveries among Asian brand slipped 2% to 678,200 units in June. Sales rose for Toyota (+2% to 202,400 units), Honda (+1% to 139,800), Nissan (+2% to 143,300) and Subaru (+12% to 52,100). June sales shrank for Hyundai (-19% to 54,500 vehicles), Kia (-10% to 56,100), Mazda (-15% to 22,300) and Mitsubishi (-5% to 76,000).

Demand for European brands provided last month’s good new, climbing 4% to 138,200 units. Among the segment sellers, sales climbed for Mercedes-Benz (+2% to 32,100 units), Volkswagen (+15% to 27,400) and Audi (+5% to 19,400). BMW sales rose by 1,100 units to 29,000 vehicles.

The U.S. market’s enthusiasm for trucks shows no sign of slowing. Crossovers, SUVs and pickup trucks captured another point of market share, rising to more than 63% of the market in June. Trucks controlled 60% of the American market in June 2016, according to Autodata.