For the past 17 years the Ford F-150 pickup truck has been the best selling vehicle in the country. But the times are ‘a changing and last month’s sales figures are a dramatic reflection of this. During the month of May, the Ford F-150 dropped from first to fifth place in overall vehicles sold. Ouch.
According to the May ‘08 sales figures reported by Autoblog and The Torque Report, the F-150 was outsold by the Honda Civic (#1), Toyota Corolla (#2), Toyota Camry (#3), and Honda Accord (#4)! Both the Civic and the Corolla sold over 10,000 units more than the F-150. If other automakers weren’t serious about selling more small cars in the U.S. already, you can bet they’re getting more interested now!
Some of the other numbers reported are just as amazing, such as the fact that the HUMMER division of General Motors sold less than 2,000 vehicles total (all models) last month, a decline of 61% over last year’s figures. Meanwhile, MINI sales are up 47%.
It seems to me that folks in the U.S. are finally changing their buying habits because of increased fuel costs. As much as I’d like to think that environmental concerns might also play a role in this shift, I have a feeling that this change is mostly due to the fact that gas is still hovering around $4 a gallon and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon.
Cnet.com’s most recent Car Tech podcast (episode 69) also shares some interesting buying trends with regards to used cars. Not surprisingly, large SUVs and pickups are depreciating at an alarmingly quick rate, along with large luxury cars. However, there has been a surge in interest among used car buyers for old fuel-sippers such as the Geo Metro, Honda CRX, and just about any older VW model with a diesel engine. It seems my chance at finding a low-mileage diesel VW Golf for a reasonable price is growing slimmer and slimmer.
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