Lexus Sales Stink Less in June than in May

Well, it’s pretty sad to be semi-celebrating when Lexus sales for the month of June are off by 16.68% compared to the same month in 2008; however, the sales gap in June was not nearly as pronounced as in May when year-over-year sales were off a whopping 36.37%!

The fine folks at Autoblog.com recently reported on auto industry sales figures for June 2009. As noted above, Lexus was off their game, but did not perform nearly as badly in year-over-year sales as the prior month. Lexus sold a total of 16,874 units, compared to 20,253 vehicles sold in June 2008 – a nearly 17% drop. To put things into perspective, however, consider that Lexus sold 16,922 units in May 2009 – unfortunately a far cry from the 26,593 vehicles the brand sold in May 2008. While the May sales looked abysmal in comparison to last year, month-to-month sales for May-June 2009 are essentially flat. And FLAT, my friends, appears to be the new UP in this perilous economic climate! Perhaps recent comments made in June by Lexus group Vice President Mark Templin regarding recovery prospects in the luxury auto market have some legs after all.

The only two automakers with a positive sales story to tell were Subaru and, shock of shocks, Volvo! Subaru’s performance (a 3.4% increase over June 2008 sales) should engender no surprise, since this upstart brand has been weathering the sales apocalypse with consistently solid performance. Volvo’s performance (a nearly flat 0.59% increase over sales in June 2008), on the other hand, leaves the armchair analyst with a little head scratching – especially since it’s the un-favored, essentially orphaned, final vestige of FoMoCo’s Premier Auto Group. This slight success – or at least absence of notable failure – is likely attributable, at least in part, to the newly introduced Volvo XC60 crossover SUV.

Ford Motor was the best performing multi-brand car company, with a sales decline of only 10.85% compared to June 2008, whereas its crosstown rivals General Motors and Chrysler Group rounded out the bottom with declines of 33.6% and 41.85%, respectively, when compared to June sales from last year. As expected, at least in the short-term, bankruptcy has not been kind to sales for these two automakers.

Stay tuned to Lexus Reports as we endeavor to keep you informed of Lexus sales performance against the dramatic backdrop of the Great Recession.

[Sources: Autoblog.com, Edmunds.com Auto Observer]