July 2012 - Not Enough Time Edition

Ever hear the expression that there aren't enough hours in the day? For General Motors and Ford, there weren't enough days in July. These two domestics sold fewer vehicles last month than the year before, but they also had two fewer days to work with, July having only 24 selling days to work with this year versus last year's 26. So you may hear some news reports decrying these two automakers for slipping sales, but in actuality, the average number of vehicles that each sold per day in July increased, and that's what really counts.

All that said, both GM and FoMoCo barely did well last month, and some of their brands were legitimately down, including GMC (-9.05 percent by volume), Buick (-14.71 percent) and Lincoln (-10.74 percent). Both the Ford brand and Chevrolet were down by volume (-3.5 and -6.75 percent, respectively), but managed to eke out increases for their daily average sales rate.

Crosstown rival Chrysler Group had no such trouble, posting a healthy 12.55-percent sales gain across its many brands. Not even a resurgent Chrysler, however, can catch up to Honda and Toyota, both of which are still enjoying conspicuously large sales compared to the production-strapped months of summer 2011. A good example of this year's Japanese about face is comparing the difference in sales between FoMoCo and ToMoCo last year and today. In July 2011, Ford sold 50,063 more vehicles than Toyota. Last month, that number shrunk to just 9,068 and Toyota's trajectory suggests it will catch the Blue Oval and pass it in short order.

Check out how the entire auto industry did in the monthly sales chart below, and visit our By the Numbers section to see all past months.

*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 24 selling days in July 2012 versus 26 selling days in July 2011, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change in average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company. Also, brands are combined and reported as companies only if their sales figures are released jointly.

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