Latest IIHS Crash testing of the all-new CX-5 sees it join the club when equipped with the latest optional safety equipment. Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – July 11, 2017 2017 Mazda CX-5 Sport Trim - $25,055 to start incl. mats and D&H offers owners a 24/31 mpg city/highway rating. A great ride and handling machine, one thing it has lacked since the demise of the 2.0L with a stick is an efficient drivetrain. That “should” soon change. 2017 Mazda CX-5 It has been some time since we have been able to report some good news for the iconic Japanese zoom-zoom brand. PR and Marketing have continued to push racing while sales continue to decline. In addition, the more powerful 2.5L SKYACTIV-G placed in most of the bands lineup has been a somewhat benign addition with less efficiency than the 2.0L it replaced. A recent past highlight arrived late last year when the brand announced it will finally offer the 2.2L SKYACTIV-D turbo diesel in the American CX-5 after years of delays. UREA through an SCR system is what made this announcement happen. It will be Mazda’s first turbo diesel engine offering in the North America and it comes none too soon. All the while we continue to wait for its release as it should vault to the CX-5 to the head of the midsize CUV segment in terms of efficiency. And today another announcement worth reporting on. The 2017 Mazda CX-5 CUV has just earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) “Top Safety Pick+” designation. While a single CUV model earning the coveted TSP+ rating is barely newsworthy on its own, the fact that every 2017 model year Mazda vehicle tested by IIHS has been rated a Top Safety Pick+ achiever when equipped with optional front crash-prevention and specific headlights is. Mazda is now the the only full-line automaker – minus a pickup truck offering of course, with this recognition under its belt. This marks the fifth-consecutive year the CX-5 has achieved the IIHS “Top Safety Pick+” designation. It’s standard Smart City Brake Support and the effectiveness of its standard LED headlamps were just two attributes allowing the CX-5 to earn top marks across the board. To attain “Top Safety Pick+” honors, a vehicle must earn the highest rating of “Good” for 2017 in five crashworthiness tests; an “Advanced” or “Superior” rating for front crash prevention; and an “Acceptable” or “Good” headlight rating. Good stuff indeed. On the sales front, Mazda had a very tough June. Mazda June 2017 Sales Down 14.7% with 22,342 Vehicles Sold Mazda June 2017 Sales Overview Mazda June sales of 22,342 vehicles was down 14.7 percent below the 26,188 sold in June of 2016. The Daily Selling Rate (DSR) was equal to the raw volume as there were 26 sales days in both June of 2016 and June of 2017. YTD sales of 141,624 was down a far less serious 2.6 percent below the 145,354 sold through the same period of 2016. DSR and raw volumes were also equivalent with 152 selling days in both 2017 and 2016. As highlighted above with its newly earned IIHS TSP+ rating, the Mazda CX-5 continues its record-breaking sales trend. In June, the CX-5 achieved sales of 9,550, up 3.5 percent over the 9,227 sold in June of 2016. YTD sales of 57,077 are up an even stronger 10.6 percent over the 51,611 sold through the same period of 2016. Mazda also stated that 61 percent of its CX model lineup – CX-3, CX-5, and CX-9 – are sold with the brands predictive i-ACTIV All-Wheel Drive. The U.S. Automobile June 2017 vs. June 2016 Market Share results. To begin, GM moved back ahead of Ford in June although market share is down .3 percent from last June. Toyota gained 0.7 percent and took back what both GM and Ford lost. Nissan gained 0.5 percent while Hyundai took a hard hit, down 0.8 percent. Subaru continued its streak of increasing market share with a 3.6 percent share in June, up 0.5 percent over its share in June of 2016. The Silverado finally outsold RAM which had been in the number two spot for the past three months. It also appears someone was pushing Equinox's as mentioned above allowing it to enter the Top 10. Rogue is now the #1 selling CUV in the U.S. with its main rival, the CR-V falling out of the Top 10 for the first time in a long time. The RAV4 is right on the Rogue’s heels too! The Corolla continues to amaze with a 6th spot in June’s Top 10 U.S. auto sales. It does not feel like a Top 10 car but you cannot fault the almost 1,500 Toyota dealerships ability to move metal despite its lack of competitive features and pricing. Segment Items of note While the Versa continues to hold onto its number one spot, the harsh sales fall was telling of the marketing and sales push that Nissan is providing it. The Rio has all but fallen off the radar of most apparently. In the C-Segment, the large incentives did not help Elantra as the aging Focus and middling Sentra and Corolla easily outsold it. The all-new Impreza is showing newfound Consumer demand. To think it was ever going to be close to the Jetta is noteworthy! In the D-segment, Accord and Camry continue to battle for midsize supremacy. Camry will be first to reach dealership showrooms with their all-new model while the all-new 10th gen Accord online reveal in Detroit on the 14th should be a worthwhile watch. The rental fleet darling Malibu is really taking a haircut while Sonata and Passat are not doing well at all either. CUVs continue to be America’s choice. Rogue continues its award-winning ways with its segment result moving from third, to second and now into fist over the past three months. Talk about firing on all cylinders! In the pickup truck segment, for the third month in a row Ford’s F-Series has outsold the entire GM pickup truck lineup. When it comes to Hybrids, the Prius lineup has succumbed to competitor’s offerings all year. The Fusion Hybrid moved ahead of the Prius liftback for the third time this year. January, March, and now June. The Fusion Hybrids YTD sales of 31,537 still lag the Prius liftbacks 33,112 sold through the first 6-months of 2017 but it will be a competition to watch through the second half of the year. The Kia Niro and Hyundai Ioniq together achieved sales of just 3,536 vehicles in June, down a significant 21.2 percent from the 4,487 the combo sold last month. This is the second month in a row in which Niro sales have fallen below their previous months result showing early momentum and marketing promotion have stalled. On the Ioniq front, in April sales were 1,316, may May saw a nice uptick to 1,827 and now June with sales of just 1,348 vehicles, back down to April levels. A lack of inventory on dealerships lots of either model across the country may have something to do with it? With healthy incentives on both the std. 4th gen Prius undercutting the Ioniqs MSRP by thousands, pricing will have to be adjusted accordingly. The Prius Prime's recent incentive increases are going to make it tough for both the Niro and Ioniq PHEVs when they arrive in just a matter of weeks. The Accord Hybrid is selling well while the hot RAV4 Hybrid appears to have topped out. In the Electric segment, both Volt and the Bolt moved back ahead of the Prius Prime. U.S. June 2017 Sales vs. June 2016 Sales Ranks and Results for the top 18 Automobile Manufacturers GM June 2017 Sales Down 4.7% with 243,155 Vehicles Sold Ford June 2017 Sales Down 5.1% with 227,979 Vehicles Sold Toyota June 2017 Sales Up 2.1% with 202,376 Vehicles Sold FCA June 2017 Sales Down 7.4% with 187,348 Vehicles Sold Nissan June 2017 Sales Up 2.0% with 143,328 Vehicles Sold Honda June 2017 Sales Up 0.8% with 139,783 Vehicles Sold Kia June 2017 Sales Down 10.3% with 56,143 Vehicles Sold Hyundai June 2017 Sales Down 19.3% with 54,507 Vehicles Sold Subaru June 2017 Sales Up 11.7% with 52,057 Vehicles Sold Mercedes-Benz June 2017 Sales Up 1.1% with 32,328 Vehicles Sold BMW June 2017 Sales Up 0.4% with 28,962 Vehicles Sold VW June 2017 Sales Up 15.0% with 27,377 Vehicles Sold Mazda June 2017 Sales Down 14.7% with 22,342 Vehicles Sold Audi June 2017 Sales Up 5.3% with 19,416 Vehicles Sold Jaguar/Land Rover June 2017 Sales Up 3.0% with 8,706 Vehicles Sold Mitsubishi June 2017 Sales Down 5.0% with 7,625 Vehicles Sold Volvo June 2017 Sales Down 15.0 % with 7,303 Vehicles Sold Porsche June 2017 Sales Up 0.8% with 4,516 Vehicles Sold Within the OEM ranks, Nissan is ever so slowly placing Honda in its rear view. And Kia outsold its parent Hyundai. I was not expecting to see that. In June 1.46 million vehicles were sold in the U.S., down 3.3 percent below the 1.51 million sold in in June of 2016. June's Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) came in at just under 17 million. 2017 U.S. Monthly Auto Industry Sales Totals January 2017 (+.01 million): 1.14 million vs 1.13 million sold in January of 2016 February 2017 (-.01 million): 1.32 million vs 1.33 million sold in February of 2016 March 2017 (-.05 million): 1.54 million vs 1.59 million sold in March of 2016 April 2017 (-.06 million): 1.44 million vs. 1.50 million sold in April of 2016 May 2017 (+.06 million): 1.52 million vs. 1.46 million sold in May of 2016 June 2017 (-.06 million): 1.46 million vs. 1.51 million sold in June of 2016 For the first half of 2017, U.S. YTD sales of 8.43 million were down 1.9 percent from the 8.59 million sold through the first half of 2016 YTD. With a record 17.49 million vehicles sold in 2016, 2017 should still be another solid year although I am predicting we will be under 17 million vehicles sold falling below both 2015 (17.45 million sold) and 2016's (17.49 million sold) if the present sales softening trend continues. Remember that when the U.S. economy experiences a drop in GDP for three consecutive months no matter how slight, it is called a recession. While many OEMs are excusing the falloff on reduced rental fleet sales, the industry-wide pull-back is surely keeping board members and CEOs awake at night despite the U.S. economic fundamentals still being positive.
