• Van sales picked up in December. Combined sales of the Express and Savana were 9747, up 11.8% over 2012. Here’s how the rest of the segment fared:
| 2013 | 2012 | Change | Share | |
| Ford Econoline | 12,460 | 11,999 | +3.8% | 43.8% |
| GM | 9,747 | 8,717 | +11.8% | 34.3% |
| Mercedes Sprinter | 2,828 | 2231 | +26.8% | 10.0% |
| Ram Promaster | 1,872 | --- | --- | 6.6% |
| Nissan NV | 1,512 | 1250 | +21% | 5.3% |
| Ford Transit Connect | 3,787 | 3776 | +.3% | |
| Nissan NV 200 | 793 |
The strong sales month depleted field supplies to 47 days from 68 at the end of November. For the 2013 calendar year GM van sales were 95,792 vs. 97,458 for 2012, a drop of 1.7%. GMC cutaways accounted for all of the decline and then some, slipping 3600 units. As you can see, it didn’t take long for the Ram Promaster to surpass the Nissan NV in sales. Ford is expected to begin production of the long-awaited full size Transit, which replaces the Econoline, later this year. Looking at midsize pickups, Toyota sold 12,761 Tacomas in December, down 9%. For the year they sold 159,485, up 12.8%. Nissan sold 5411 Frontiers last month, up 46.7%. For the year they sold 62,837, up 13.4%. So the segment is already growing even before we get involved.
Mark your calendars - GM is expected to announce 4th quarter and full year earnings on Thursday, Feb. 6. (profit sharing currently stands at $5500)
From the Detroit News: Mark Reuss, GM’s North American president, admits his company is taking a risk with its three-size truck strategy across two brands. Smaller pickups, GM believes, will offer customers a greater number of options and help the Detroit-based automaker meet federal fuel efficiency standards. But Reuss isn’t afraid that GM’s strategy won’t keep pace with Ford’s, which includes one popular nameplate — the F-Series — and a huge gamble on aluminum parts to help its trucks shed weight to meet the same fuel economy targets. “It’s wild,” Reuss said in a recent interview. “I’m loving it.” GM and Ford have important truck debuts at next week’s North American International Auto Show: GM, Sunday, re-introduced the midsize GMC Canyon pickup — sister of the already unveiled Colorado.
The two are being added back to its lineup. On Monday, Ford unwrapped its next-generation F-150, a truck much lighter than the current model thanks to more extensive use of aluminum in the body. The market segment of smaller pickups — known as midsize trucks — has declined for decades. And extensive use of aluminum in pickups is an untested approach. While truck owners are overwhelmingly brand loyal, there’s a real chance GM or Ford — or both — is choosing the wrong strategy for some of their most profitable vehicles.
“This could be a defining moment for Ford and the truck segment as a whole,” said Alec Gutierrez, an auto analyst at Kelley Blue Book. “Ford is subdividing the F-150 lineup to reach buyers and GM is using a multi-vehicle approach across the entire pickup segment,” said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for research firm LMC Automotive. Both could be successful approaches, he said, but “it’s not a slam dunk in either case.”
LMC’s Schuster said Chrysler had been considering a smaller truck, more like Honda Motor Co.’s Ridgeline (Chrysler’s Ram brand has shelved any plans to build a midsize truck, said spokesman David Elshoff). Honda said it will debut a new Ridgeline within two years and Schuster said it’s possible more automakers could look at smaller trucks to win younger buyers. IHS Automotive predicts the midsize truck segment will grow from about 1.6 percent of sales today to 1.9 percent or 2 percent of the industry by 2015 or 2016. Reuss said federal fuel economy regulations are part of GM’s business decision to offer midsize trucks. In 2016, automakers must meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy ratings of 35.5 miles per gallon in the U.S. He said the Colorado is some 900 pounds lighter than the Silverado. Jeff Luke, GM’s chief truck engineer, said the anticipated EPA sticker figures will top the fuel economy of the Silverado, Sierra and old Canyon and Colorado, which at best hit 25 mpg on the highway.
“If you look at this graphically and mathematically, you can’t get to an efficiency place that this truck is going to offer no matter what you do to a full-size pickup truck,” Reuss said during an interview with reporters at the LA Auto Show at which Ford executives were seen checking out the Colorado. “And so if you try and do it, all you’re doing is adding cost and not getting the return of the mass out of it.” Ford thinks differently, and although its goal is not to match the weight differential between GM’s full-size and midsize trucks, it could come close. The Dearborn automaker wants to shed at least 250 pounds — and upward of 750 pounds — from each of its vehicles to boost fuel efficiency.
From the Chattanooga Times Free Press: Volkswagen and the United Auto Workers union leaders say they are continuing to talk about how a works council may be created in Chattanooga to help bring workers and managers together to plan car production. But both sides say any decision about union representation at the VW plant in Chattanooga should be made by the hourly employees at the facility. Volkswagen of America’s new chief executive, in his first comments on union organizing efforts at the company’s Chattanooga plant, said Monday he will accept whatever workers at the factory decide on the issue. “Democracy is an important part of American culture,” Michael Horn said at the North American International Auto Show. “That’s a fundamental view I have personally,” he said. United Auto Workers chief Bob King said a majority of Volkswagen plant employees in Chattanooga have signed cards supporting organizing efforts and that he isn’t opposed to an election at the factory. “Card check is the fastest way” [to recognizing the union], he said. “We’re big supporters of workers having the right to decide representation. We favor elections.” King also said he doesn’t want an adversarial relationship with U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and he desires a collaborative one with Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, R-Tenn., who have both criticized the unionizing effort at the plant and worry about its impact on economic development in the state.
Tom Brune
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