Page 34 - On The Move - Volume 16, Issue 3

Hyundai, Kia, Subaru Rise in May

Hyundai U.S. sales rose 2.0% in May to 66,121 with 10,713 coming from the Soul small car, which
units, paced by its highest monthly CUV sales ever, is redesigned for the ’20 model year. The good
the automaker says. Collectively, Hyundai CUVs performance by the Soul, plus the 6,273 sales added
(Kona, Tucson and Santa Fe) rose 27% to 36,620, by the new Telluride 3-row large CUV, offset declines
with all three models hitting a new May peak, per for nearly all other Kia models seen in May.
the automaker’s numbers. Hyundai has just begun The Kia Rio subcompact, K900 large luxury
retailing a fourth CUV, the 3-row Palisade. sedan and Sportage small CUV were in the black,
Retail sales for the Korean brand grew 4% in while the Forte compact car, Optima midsize sedan,
May and fleet sales declined 5%, although it doesn’t Cadenza large sedan, Stinger sport sedan, Sedona
provide raw figures for either sector. minivan, Sorento midsize CUV and Niro electrified
There were mixed results among car CUVs were in the red. rose 7.9% to 18,017, while Forester deliveries grew
nameplates. The Veloster small sport coupe, Subaru topped Kia, but lagged behind 10.3% to 16,028. Subaru says its Ascent large CUV,
redesigned last year, rose, as did the Accent Hyundai, slotting in between with 63,972 sales, not on sale in May 2018, accounted for 7,509 of its
subcompact, but Hyundai’s core car models, the good for a 6.4% increase on year-ago. Subaru says May 2019 volume.
Elantra compact sedan and hatch and Sonata May 2019 was its best May ever in terms of volume. However, all was not rosy. The Crosstrek small
midsize sedan, were down, as was the Ioniq green- “Coming off of a record-breaking April, we CUV slipped 19.7% and car sales suffered hefty
car lineup. Sales of Hyundai’s low-volume Nexo were excited to continue the momentum in May setbacks, with the Impreza compact sedan and
hydrogen fuel-cell CUV (19 units) were flat with May with a milestone 90th month of consecutive sales hatch, BRZ sports car and WRX/STI sport sedans and
2018. increases,” Tom Doll, president and CEO-Subaru of hatches losing a quarter to a third of their May 2018
Through May, Hyundai’s U.S. sales were up America, said in a statement. volume; the Legacy midsize sedan slipped 13.5%.
1.7% to 269,126. Sister-brand Kia posted a 4.7% As at other brands, CUVs set May sales records, Subaru U.S. sales through May were up 5.7%
increase in its sales, boasting May was its best with best-ever results in the month for the midsize to 278,014.
month so far in 2019. Kia says it sold 60,062 units, Outback and compact Forester CUVs. Outback sales Source: Ward’s Auto

Ram, Dodge Drive FCA’s Sales

Fiat Chrysler sales rose 1.9%, as record deliveries of its Ram truck brand in May and brisk demand for Dodge
products overcame uncharacteristically weak consumer pull for its stable of Jeep crossovers and SUVs.
FCA sold 217,146 light vehicles in the U.S., compared with 213,142 in the same period last year, according
to Wards Intelligence. There were 26 selling days in May, same as last year.
“On a year-over-year basis, we have increased our average transaction prices by more than $3,000 a vehicle
and still managed some notable sales increases,” says Reid Bigland, head of U.S. sales at FCA.
“In its first full month on sale, our all-new Jeep Gladiator pickup truck delivered more than 2,500 vehicle
sales, our Ram pickup truck sales soared 33 percent and the Jeep Grand Cherokee delivered its best May sales
ever,” he says in a statement detailing the results.
The Italian-American automaker sold 65,561 Ram pickups and vans, up 29.2% compared with year-ago. FCA
delivered 197,866 light trucks in the month, compared with 19,280 cars.
Dodge sales rose 2.5% to 47,759 units from 46,581 last year on the strength of a spike in Charger sedan
deliveries of 9,296 units, up 35.3%. Sales of the Caravan minivan grew 8.5% to 16,809 units from 15,487, and
deliveries of the Durango SUV jumped 32.8% to 8,263 copies from 6,222.
Jeep sales retreated 7.2% to 90,326 units from 97,286 in the same period last year, despite a best-ever May
for the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV, up 18.1% to 25,394 units from 21,494 year-ago. The Gladiator midsize pickup
accounted for 2,584 sales in the month.
Chrysler brand sales tumbled 26% to 10,903 units from 14,724 last year, largely on a 26.2% decline in de-
mand for the Pacifica minivan to 8,232 units from 11,151. Sales of Alfa Romeo vehicles fell 33.9% to 1,572 units
from 2,377 in the same period last year, while Fiat brand sales slipped 28.9% to 1,025 units from 1,441.
So far this year, FCA sales were down 2.6% to 884,334 units from 907,587. Fleet sales represented 31% of
the automaker’s sales last month and 22% for the first five months of 2019.
Source: Ward’s Auto

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