June 2015 Auto Sales: Trucks, Compact Crossovers Push a Bull Market - Automobile
Halfway through the 2015 calendar, we’re on our way to the first 17-million-unit sales year for cars and light trucks since 2006. Just like nine years ago, mainstream buyers are migrating from midsize and compact sedans to utility vehicles, though... And though the Detroit Three say they finally know how to make money on smaller cars and crossovers, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Fiat Chrysler still can attribute a good chunk of their profits to the high-margin pickup trucks they’re... While it took federal stimulus construction projects to help revive the pickup market in the early part of the decade, GM, Ford, and Ram now boast of selling fancy pickups to suburban families. Ram 1500 pickups with manufacturer suggested retail prices above $50,000 account for 15 percent of the mix, brand CEO and president Bob Hegbloom told me at last week’s 2016 Fiat Chrysler full-line preview. GM often is criticized for laying on the incentives to move its full-size pickups, which were mildly redesigned for 2014 (and will be all-new again for 2019). The automaker says its truck sales were strong in the second quarter of 2015, with... On the crossover side, the compact models, from the segment-leading Honda CR-V to the Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4, and even the Chevrolet Equinox, seem to be taking the place of the midsize sedan. Source: www.automobilemag.com
