New car sales weak in June, fell compared to May; see last month's and this year's top-selling cars

July 2, 3:20 PMDC Car ExaminerBrady Holt

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  Small fuel-efficient cars like the Honda Civic sold very well in June 
  2008 when gas was more expensive, but their sales volume was off 
  last month. See a list of June 2009's best-sellers below the article. 

Despite projections calling for improvements to struggling new car sales in June, new car sales fell in last month compared to both May 2009 and June 2008. 

Last June had seen then-unprecedented upsets in the car sales hierarchy, with high gas prices driving consumers in unprecedented numbers toward smaller and more fuel-efficient cars. Sales last month followed the more traditional order, with Ford's full-size F-Series pickup at the top of the sales chart. 

However, the change toward the normal order -- albeit with fewer sales -- meant sharp declines for those smaller, fuel-efficient cars; the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla saw their sales fall in half compared to last year, while the F-Series saw its sales slid only 7.4 percent. 

Overall, Ford saw its sales decline by only 11 percent this June compared to last, a relatively small drop by recent standards. Big drops from its compact Focus and sporty Mustang were largely offset by a jump in the sales of its newly redesigned Fusion midsize sedan and by only modest declines of its trucks relative to the poor June 2008 figures. 

General Motors was less fortunate, seeings its sales fall by 33 percent last month compared to June 2008. It too had seen its truck sales fall sharply a year ago, but its full-size Chevrolet Silverado sales went on to shrink by another 28 percent. The automaker says the bulk of the decline comes from its sales to fleets -- fleet sales are generally criticized as a low-profit dumping ground for unsold inventory that goes on to hurt products' resale values -- but as many fleets, such as rental car agencies, have cut back on their purchasing, the drop-off may not be intentional.

One of GM's sharpest drops last month came from the compact Chevrolet Cobalt, which has traditionally sold heavily to fleets. The Cobalt went from nearly 21,000 sales in June 2008 to under 7,000 last month -- a loss of more than two thirds of its sales volume.

The automaker's brightest spot is the new-for-2010 Chevrolet Camaro, which has been selling in high volume at or near its full sticker price. Nearly 10,000 Camaros were sold last month, and GM is so far selling as many as it can build. 

---See the best-seller sales chart below this article---

Chrysler fared even worse; its sales fell 42 percent. Chrysler's factories had been idle during its bankruptcy, but excess production and earlier low sales had left plenty of inventory on dealer lots. Sales to fleets all but dried up when the factories were idle, however. 

Every Chrysler product save the Dodge Challenger sporty coupe saw a double-digit sales decline, and the Challenger was only offered in a limited-availability version last year. The Dodge Ram full-size pickup, like the Ford F-Series, dropped by only 10 percent compared to June 2008 as the closest thing to a bright spot for the automaker. Nearly half of its products -- 12 out of 26 -- saw their sales fall by more than 50 percent. 

Japan's Big Three also struggled last month. Toyota, like GM, saw its sales fall by a third, thanks in large part to a comparison to very strong sales from its Camry, Corolla, and Prius last June. Camry sales shrunk by 39 percent; Corolla sales by 55 percent. The freshly redesigned Prius posted a small sales increase over last year -- and over recent months, when sales had been weak -- but the difference would have been bigger had the car not sold unusually well this time last year. 

Honda was in a similar position, with its three main car lines each losing sales in the 40-percent range. Its new 2010 Insight has struggled to gain market acceptance, too; it sold just 2,000 units last month compared to over 12,000 Priuses. Honda had already dropped its annual sales projections from 90,000 to 50,000, but unless sales pick up they may shrink further still. 

Honda's loss in car volume was offset by sales of its SUVs and Odyssey minivan essentially holding steady compared to last year's volume, a pattern also followed by Nissan, whose sales were down by 23 percent. 

See the top-sellers for last month and for the first six months of this year: