Toyota Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co., Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru and Mazda all continued to rebound thanks to more plentiful inventory and increasing incentives to offset rising interest rates.
Toyota Motor, which includes the Toyota and Lexus brands, reported a sales increase of 15 percent. Toyota and Lexus sales were up 16 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively. Toyota said strong sales were driven mostly by a 21 percent increase in light-truck sales.
Toyota Motor said it ended August with 174,567 light vehicles in U.S. stock, or a 24-day supply. The Toyota brand had 142,257 vehicles in stock, or a 23-day supply, to start September while Lexus has a stockpile of 32,320 cars and light trucks, or a 37-day supply.
Ford Motor August sales rose 2 percent, thanks to a 10 percent increase in pickup deliveries. Volume at Ford Division rose 2 percent and Lincoln sales increased 3.1 percent. Ford brand sales have climbed nine consecutive months, while August is the fourth month this year that Lincoln has logged an increase, though not consecutively.
Ford said it ended August with U.S. gross vehicle stocks of 383,300, up from 359,100 at the start of the month.
Honda Motor, which struggled to recover following the chip shortage, continues to see rebounding sales even as it works through “industry logistics and supply issues.” In August, combined Honda and Acura volume surged 57 percent; Honda brand sales increased 56 percent and Acura saw a rise of 61 percent.
Honda ended August with 31,900 new vehicles on the ground, down from 32,000 to start the month, but up from 13,700 heading into September 2022. Acura finished August with about 17,678 vehicles on the ground, slightly up from 17,400 at the start of the month and a sharp increase from 3,089 heading into September 2022.
Hyundai and Kia continue to enjoy growth. Hyundai Motor America sales increased 1.1 percent to 65,046, while Kia America reported a gain of 9.2 percent to 72,147.
The automakers — which operate separately despite sharing the same parent, Hyundai Motor Group — have been neck and neck all year. Kia sales surpassed Hyundai’s in August, as it did in February, May, June and July.
Kia America Vice President of Sales Operations Eric Watson attributed its success, exceeding sales of 70,000 vehicles for four consecutive months, to its “highly desirable and innovative models across many of the industry’s largest segments.”
Genesis, Hyundai’s luxury brand, logged an increase of 27 percent.
August inventory for Hyundai was 53,075 vehicles, up from 47,836 in July. Inventory in August 2022 was 19,209.
Subaru posted its 13th consecutive monthly sales gain with August volume up 13 percent to 56,407 behind stronger deliveries of the Forester, Legacy and Outback.
Mazda’s August sales advanced 19 percent to 30,174 — its 11th straight monthly gain. Mazda car sales rose 17 percent and light-truck volume rose 19 percent. Volvo said August sales rose 31 percent.
