The Spies say ALL the key automotive trends begin in Southern California and this one CAN'T be good for the US manufacturers...
Sales at luxury car maker Lincoln dropped 40 percent in San Diego County last year. Sales of vehicles by GMC dropped nearly 24 percent in the county last year. Sales dropped 21 percent for Ford, 19 percent for Jeep, 18 percent for Chevrolet, 14 percent for Buick, 13 percent for Mercury and 11 percent for Cadillac.
“The reality is that (Ford's) market share is shrinking and that it probably won't rebound to where it once was,” said John McCallen, president of Pearson Ford. “Our market share has shrunk. Even the size of our facilities is down, and our personnel have had to adjust.”
On the other hand, sales of subcompact cars and standard midsize cars – especially imports – rose sharply last year.
Toyota, which sells the most vehicles in San Diego County and in California, saw a 14 percent rise in countywide sales last year. As a result, Toyota's market share rose from 22 percent to 25 percent, while second-place Ford's dropped from 13.8 percent to 13.0 percent.
Last year, imports made up more than 62 percent of new car sales in San Diego County, compared with about 51 percent nationwide. Nevertheless, sales for many imports slid last year, led by Isuzu, Saab, Volvo and Nissan. Of 35 brands on the market, only four increased their sales: foreign-owned Toyota, Porsche and Land Rover and domestic Saturn.
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