Is the Auto Sector Out of the Woods of Recession?

This is the most logical question that anyone and everyone has on their minds. Is the auto industry out of the woods? Is the impact of Recession over? Or, are we inching closer to an end of Recession and its subsequent impact on the car sales across the World?

Now, to be honest, these are very subjective questions that do not have a clear cut answer. Since it is too broad a question, let us try and analyze the available yardsticks that can help us decide or know about the possible direction that the automotive industry is taking for the immediate future.

To begin with, I cannot stop discussing Toyota because if the recalls did not happen the statistics for the automotive industry would have been somewhat better than they have been. So, Toyota’s recalls did dent new sales and deprive a true measure of the success of auto industry. This is especially true for the UK and US markets.

If you have access to the February Sales figures for major countries, then we can talk about an improved performance for all the automotive manufacturing companies, albeit a few that fell on the way because of snags, glitches and recalls (read Toyota). Automakers in the US have reported increase in sales for the month of February and the overall increase has been 13% over last February. All manufacturers, with the exception of Toyota reported increase in Sales with Ford reporting a 24% increase to topple General Motors as the number one maker in the US.

In UK, the automakers have reported a 26% increase in sales, thus making it another positive development. Surprisingly, Toyota has managed an increase of 15% over last February sales. Canada has reported a 25% increase in February sales over the same period last year. Interestingly, Toyota Canada has reported a 25% increase despite all the hue and cry on the recalls.

So, now we head over to the other part of the world. Australia has reported a 17% increase in new car sales with Toyota coming trumps with a 17.8% increase in the sales of new cars for the month of February.

India has reported an increase of 30% in auto sales for the month of February with each manufacturer clocking massive gains. This includes Ford, General Motors and Suzuki. Japan has already declared that the sales of cars, autos and trucks have increased by 35% in February, thus making it one of the healthiest months for automakers.

In China, General Motors has reported a 51% increase in Sales while Ford has reported a 37.5% increase in sales for the month of February.

Now, if you were to get the conclusion from these numbers then we have some sort of good news emerging. Each automaker has reported an increase in new vehicle sales. And the trend is Global in nature from Asia to Europe to the US. Be it Ford or General Motors, things are looking up for all of them. Even Toyota has been able to post a handsome increase in many countries and the impact of recalls is being felt more in the UK and the US.

The increase in Sales is a testimony to the fact that we may not be out of the Recession completely, but we are getting there. And I would say that the trend is likely to sustain over the entire year and that too across the Globe. By the end of the year, if the automotive sector does not look green, then at least the next year will be greener.

Rob May looks to cover interesting topics related to automotive industry. In this article, he presents his views on current status of auto industry. From fuel standpoint, he recommends using fleet cards. A fleet card from Shell or Esso is the right way to manage company fuel requirements.

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