Michelle Krebs and Lacey Plache of Edmunds.com, decorated heroes of the TTAC “rate the analysts” contest (to be repeated) are raining on the parade of good sales forceasts, definitely for August, possibly for the year. Edmunds thinks that August sales will be flat. Customers are hearing mixed signals, and being confused, they do nothing. Says Lacey Plache:
Like us, Edmunds.com has its sights on underestimated Nissan. Edmunds gives Nissan ”the biggest month-over-month gains among the top six automakers. Nissan is projected to sell 10.4 percent more vehicles in August than July, and 21.5 percent more vehicles than in August 2010.”
Like us, Edmunds praises Nissan for dealing best with the obstacles thrown up by a huge tidal wave in Japan. Says Jessica Caldwell:
On the overrated side, Edmunds forecasts that Ford will be the only major automaker this month to report a decline in sales from July to August. Ford’s sales are expected to be down 0.5 percent from July, leading to a market share loss of 0.5 points. Edmunds sees Ford struggling with inventory, notably of its hottest-selling models – the Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus and Ford Explorer.
Hyundai is expected to sell 60,839 vehicles this month, a 13.5 percent gain over August 2010. Hyundai’s inventories also show signs of strain. In early August, Hyundai’s CEO John Krafcik told Edmunds that Hyundai had only 37,000 vehicles in inventory – barely a 20 days supply. The Elantra was down to a 3 days supply.