Honda and Kia are on the road to recovery, Subaru could be doing better, sales in China remain good, city folks are buying their first cars, and more in The Morning Shift for Tuesdsay, August 4, 2020.
In recent months, sales reports for auto brands have not been good. COVID-19 reduced demand for cars as others lost their jobs and avoided displacement, and also killed production due to social estrangement needs to prevent the spread of the virus.
Energized by
But lately, we’ve been through a decent amount of encouraging news among all the disappointing quarterly monetary results. Much of this news comes from China, where the automotive market has exploded, in part because other people are avoiding public transportation in favor of the car’s isolating cocoon, as the Financial Times reports. We also heard Volvo CEO say, according to the Financial Times, that he believes that “the advertising effects of the pandemic are limited to the first six months,” and GM chief Mary Barra told The Associated Press, “We’re seeing a recovery we think it’s going to be a “short-lived recession” before saying, “But we have a long way to go because we’ve gone to a low base.” The new epidemics pose potential setbacks, but we expect the U.S. economy to return to 90% of its pre-pandemic point early next year. “
So we’ve been seeing good sales in China, and “promising” words for other markets like the U.S. The good news is that there are numbers to support that things are improving, at least for Toyota, Honda, and Kia. That’s how Automotive News frames it in its story Toyota, Honda, Kia rally continues; Hyundai posts 1st gain since Feb., writing:
Toyota Motor Corp., American Honda and Kia recorded their lowest declines in U.S. sales. In July since the coronavirus outbreak began and 4 brands recorded increases, indicating that the market continues from the pandemic.
Volume fell 19% on Toyota Motor, 11% on America Honda and 1.7% on Kia, announced Monday. Meanwhile, July sales rose 3.4% on Mazda and 10% in Volvo, but fell 20% in Subaru and 21% in Genesis.
Of the six automakers reported on Monday, the overall volume was only 12%.
Obviously, “the slightest drop in sales” is a way of thinking about the fact that there has been a decline, but Auto News is right: lower casualties are higher than large ones.
Auto News also distinguishes Subaru’s sales results, but not from such a positive perspective. The story entitled Subaru collapses to quarterly loss in the pandemic.
From the article:
In the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, Subaru booked an operating loss of 15.7 billion yen ($146.2 million), reversing an operating profit of 92.2 billion yen ($858.6 million) the previous year. The all-wheel-drive niche player also reported a 7.7 billion yen net loss ($71.7 million), in the three months, down from a 66.5 billion yen ($619.2 million) net profit the year before.
Revenue fell 45 percent to 457.0 billion yen ($4.26 billion) in the april to June quarter, while global sales, covering wholesale sales abroad, fell 49 percent to 133,100 units.
The company’s CEO Tomomi Nakamura mentions Subaru’s coronavirus-related struggles with vehicle output, with Automotive News writing:
Subaru had largely escaped the pandemic hit in the January-March period because the outbreak had yet to fully sweep the U.S., which accounts for more than two-thirds of Subaru’s global sales.
But by April, U.S. factories and dealerships were shutting down as the new coronavirus breached American shores. Subaru’s Japan factory suspended operations in early April and its U.S. plant in Indiana shut down in late March. Both returned to mostly normal output only in June.
“The new coronavirus outbreak has affected our production and sales activities across our group,” CEO Tomomi Nakamura said Tuesday as he delivered the results.
The article goes on to say that Nakamura “has stated that he expects a steady recovery until 2021, which will lead to immediate increases in the market percentage in May and June with the reopening of the showrooms.”
So it’s not that bad, it’s just more of the “We Think It’s Going to Get Better” speech than we’ve heard from other automakers. I hope they’re all right, I bet they are.
I mentioned earlier that sales in China are up. Well, that continues to be the case, and it’s worth keeping an eye on given how important China is as a car market. Reuters writes that this July will actually see quite a few more car sales than last July, though the first half of the year remains worse than the first half of last year. Here it is from Reuters:
China’s auto sales for July are expected to rise 14.9% year-on-year to 2.08 million vehicles, the country’s top auto industry body said in a post on its official WeChat account on Tuesday.
[…]
Car sales from January to July in China, the world’s largest market, are expected to fall 12.7% year-on-year to 12.34 million units.
As I discussed at first speed, one of the reasons car sales are on the rise in China is that other people are replacing public transportation with cars that offer coverage instead of coronavirus. But it is not only China’s cities that see this unforeseen result of a global pandemic, but they are overcrowded spaces around the world.
Londoner David Sheppard of the Financial Times recounts his delight in buying his first vehicle:
But in front of my front door is my first car. There are plans for my own contribution to pollution.
I’m far from alone. Car dealerships in the UK capital are reporting a new breed of buyer, the 30- or 40-something city dweller opting for vehicle ownership amid fears that public transport has become a no-go zone.
This change, replicated in cities like New York and increasingly in China, may jeopardize “green” recovery plans. Conservative politician Jeremy Hunt argued this month on Twitter that we deserve to use the drop in traffic in the lock “to make a permanent change, so as not to go back to the pollutants we had before.” Unfortunately, you can hear it slightly with the sound of cars scrolling through the video.
Sheppard describes his reasoning for the purchase, saying:
My own explanation of why I buy a car less similar to sailing through central London than leaving the city. The concept of not being able to make a safe stop at my parents in Scotland led me to move from inactive navigation to Auto Trader to writing load spreadsheets. My bank account seemed bigger ready to deal with the same old nights at the pub. It has become a necessity when my spouse and I had to go and pass to a relative with outdoor health problems in London, keeping our “bubble” intact.
Many city dwellers, such as Sheppard, (and only car owners in general) have difficulty reconciling their preference for the protection and convenience of a car with its strong mitigation of climate change. Electrification would help, but infrastructure is lacking, especially in cities. It’s an enigma.
The Mazda3 2.5 Turbo 2021 will produce 227 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque, which is quite exciting for a small sedan/hatchback. Now we have costs for the hot hatch, and it’s not cheap.
Autoblog breaks it down:
After its appearance a few weeks ago, we now have the official costs of the Mazda3 2.5 Turbo 2021. The maximum edition is the sedan from $30,845. The sedan adds $1,000 for a total of $31,845. The full list of popular features has not been announced, however, any of the styles is popular with all-wheel drive, automatic transmission and four turbocharged 2.5-liter cylinders with 250 horsepower and 320 lb/ft of torque with high-end fuel. Training
You also have an impressive Premium Plus end for the Mazda3 turbo. It starts at $33,395 for the sedan and $34,695 for the sedan.
The 2.0-liter base car starts at $21,445 with the destination, so if you want the new 3 (and I fully perceive it, it’s a great machine), you can buy one at a moderate price. View the full costs of all versions on the Mazda media site.
From history:
“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”, an irreverent comedy in the flamboyant (fictional) world of American motorsport, will premiere in American cinemas on August 4, 2006.
Comedian Will Ferrell (who also co-wrote the script with director Adam McKay and served as executive producer) played Ricky Bobby, a leading driving force on the National Stock Automobile Racing Association (NASCAR) circuit.
Did the coronavirus make you buy a car? If so, tell me why you did it precisely, and if not, have you been tempted?
Denos Likes us on Facebook to see stories.
Please give an overall site rating: