U.S. Sales Drop 13% for Foreign Brands

Sales of foreign-brand passenger vehicles in the U.S. fell 13% to 704,300 units in September, according to Automotive News.

This year’s results were hurt by two fewer selling days in the month, and the fact that Labor Day weekend sales were posted in August this year. Overall volume for the group through the first nine months of 2019 slipped 1% to 7.11 million units.

Almost all Asian producers posted lower volumes last month, led by Toyota (-17% to 150,800 vehicles), Nissan (-18% to 101,200), Honda (-14% to 102,800) and Hyundai/Kia (-10% to 98,100). Sales also fell for Subaru (-9% to 51,700 units) and Mazda (-11% to 18,800). Mitsubishi Motors reported flat sales at 7,700 units.

September sales also fell for Volkswagen Group (-12% to 48,700 units), Europe’s largest player in the American market. But volumes improved for Mercedes-Benz (+4% to 32,000 vehicles) and BMW Group (+5% to 31,100). Second-tier European producers also posted gains last month. The group was led by Jaguar Land Rover (+5% to 9,500) and Volvo (+7% to 9,300).

AN estimates that electric car sales by Tesla dropped 45% to 12,000 units in September and were down 13% through the first nine months of the year.