Car and truck sales spring growth was a bit slower then expected this April. Since 2010 it was the luxury segment, which has led the sales growth. This year the indexes are quite ambiguous in this market section. Of the top-five luxury premium brands, only Audi is up so far for the first four months of 2016. Third-place BMW is down by 9.4 percent, and that doesn’t include the premium Mini brand’s 14.3 percent decline.
At the same time American Honda and Nissan group registered the most significant sales growth in this period, which were of 14.4 percent and 12,8 percent respectively. GM says its retail sales rose 3.3 percent to 200,656, naming among its best sellers the Chevy Colorado and the GMC Canyon. Ford Motor Company also had a quite uniform sales period with a 3.3 percent rise. Ford Mustang continues to lead PonyCarWars, though off 3.2 percent to 12,726. Toyota Motor Sales results grew to 211,125, up 3.8 percent. Toyota division was up 5 percent to 186,243, while Lexus was off 3.8 percent to 24,882.
It is of course early to say that non-pickup-driving executives and small-business owners should be cautious or worried about their investments. The next few months of pickup truck and luxury/premium vehicle sales will give the most valuable clues as to where the economy is headed.
