World Vehicle Sales Up 2.9% in July

Automakers delivered 7.40 million vehicles in July, starting off second-half 2017 2.9% ahead of year-ago. Many large markets saw improvements, while others experienced slow demand.

North America was the only region to sell fewer vehicles than last July, falling 5.7% to 1.75 million. The decline was due to weak sales in the U.S., which fell 6.8% to 1.44 million vehicles, the seventh straight month of losses.  

Mexico’s total fell 7.0% short of year-ago’s record with 125,000 units, as soaring light-truck sales weren’t enough to balance shrinking car volumes. Canada posted a best-ever July total of 185,000 deliveries, growing 5.2% above year-ago.

Through July, North America sales dipped 2.0% below like-2016 to a 7-month total of 12.16 million units.

Sales were strong in Europe, rising 5.3% in July to 1.60 million vehicles. Several Eastern countries witnessed huge growth. Serbia sales increased 18.8% to 2,500 units, Slovakia was up 13.5% to 8,800 and Ukraine grew 21.2% to 7,700. Turkey sales totaled 84,000, soaring 41.7% above year-ago’s unusually slow month.

Russia extended a 3-month stretch of gains, rising 17.3% to 139,000 due to government incentives and growing confidence from the middle class in a brighter future. Local manufacturers claimed the top 10 spots, helped by high import taxes.

In line with forecasts, sales in the U.K. fell 7.8% to 191,000 units, while consumers wait for more answers to the future after Brexit. However, sales of alternatively fueled vehicles increased 64.9% to hold 5.5% of the car market.

Overall, Europe’s year-to-date sales outpaced like-2016 by 4.3% with 12.51 million vehicles. The total still fell below peak pre-recession levels of 2008 when over 13.6 million units were sold in the same period.

The Asia-Pacific region saw 7.0% growth in July, with sales over 3.33 million. Big gains came from Indonesia (+37.5%), Malaysia (+14.3%) and Philippines (+9.7%).

India witnessed 14.9% improvement to 362,000 vehicles after the government cut the Goods and Services Tax. The growth was enjoyed by several automakers; Maruti Suzuki India, Ford India and Honda Cars outpaced the market.

China sales continued to improve, climbing 6.4% in July to 1.97 million units. The growth came from SUV sales, which rose 17% at the expense of other segments. Year-to-date sales reached 15.33 million, outpacing like-2016 by 4.5%.

Sales were strong in South America, up 6.2% over last July to 324,000 vehicles. Aside from Venezuela, growth was seen in every country. Chile sales soared 23.7% to 29,000 units and Uruguay gained 14.9% to 4,000. Sales in Brazil inched up 1.9% to 185,000, and were 3.3% ahead of 7-month 2016.

Worldwide sales through July grew 2.6% over like-2016, with 54.83 million vehicles.

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