Most Automakers Suffer Sales Drop In August

Most of the U.S. automakers reported a drop in sales volume in August.

TrueCar, Inc. TRUE estimates that revenue from fresh vehicle sales would have reached $50 billion in August in the US, representing a 1.7 percent year-over-year drop. On a month-over-month basis, this is higher than the estimated revenue of $48.9 billion in July.

TrueCar estimates that the industry witnessed average transaction price growth of 0.4 percent from $32,222 to $32,339 on a year-over-year basis.

Incentive spending as a percentage of ATP estimated to have increased 7.3 percent in August on a year-over-year basis, but dipped 2.5 percent on a month-over-month basis. BMW and Volkswagen spent more on incentive per unit, while Honda spent less.

TrueCar's Chief Industry analyst Eric Lyman said, "Automakers that are traditionally associated with strong truck and utility portfolios attained the biggest growth in average transaction price year over year, especially those with full-size pickups who show the most consistent gains."

The major automakers sales for August:

• General Motors Company GM reported 5 percent drop in sales
• Ford Motor Company F suffered 8.4 percent fall in sales
• Toyota Motor TM revealed 5 percent drop in sales
• Honda Motor HMC disclosed 3.8 percent fall in sales
• Fiat Chrysler Automobiles FCAU reported 3 percent gain in sales
• Hyundai Motor America reported flat sales
• Nissan NSANY delivered 6.5 percent fall in sales
• Volkswagen VLKAY revealed 9.1 percent drop in sales
• Mitsubishi Motors MMTOF sales fell 11.5 percent

Most of the auto stocks traded in the negative territory.