Honda beats June estimates as market concludes drab first half

Bloomberg

Honda Motor Co.’s US auto sales rose more than analysts estimated in June, giving a positive start to mid-year reports following a five-month streak of industry declines.
The Japanese automaker sold 139,793 vehicles in the US last month, a 0.8 percent increase from the same month last year.
Analysts had been expecting a 0.5 percent increase. Sales of the HR-V rose 35 percent, marking its best June sales ever.
Collapsing demand for sedans and coupes by American consumers and rental-car companies alike have produced small declines in US sales volumes every month this year, and projections indicate that pattern will hold in June. The pace of sales typically increases in the second half of the year powered by promotions starting with the July 4 holiday and lasting through year-end discounts, but none of the analysts surveyed by Bloomberg project another year of record sales.
“Recent history has shown that the second half is usually pretty good,” Jessica Caldwell, an analyst with Edmunds, said last week in an interview, noting that the better sales will come at a cost. “I think because of some of the inventory situations, pretty much across the board by all automakers, that we’ll see heavier incentives, especially at the end of the summer.”
Among the biggest automakers, only Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda were expected to report increases in June deliveries. Volkswagen AG, the world’s biggest automaker but still a smaller player in the US, may have seen its combined VW and Audi brand sales rise with the addition of the VW Atlas SUV that is made in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV are all shortening summer shutdowns or forgoing them altogether at some US plants that make popular SUVs and pickups as demand for the bigger vehicles continues to chug along. At the same time, several car plants are bracing for a cut in summertime shifts and output as manufacturers try to align supply with still-slumping passenger-car demand.
The industrywide selling rate, adjusted for seasonal trends, may have slipped in June to about 16.6 million, compared with 16.8 million a year ago, according to the average of analysts’ estimates.
The full-year total of 17.2 million analysts are projecting would end a seven-year winning streak for the auto sector but would still mark the fourth-best year on record. The industry sold 17.55 million cars and light trucks last year.