By The Numbers: April 2009

We're doing something new for this month's By the Numbers – ordering each brand and automaker by the most number of vehicles sold to the least. We used to order everything alphabetically, but figured this way easily surfaced an extra facet of information. On to the numbers.



Not a single brand managed to improve its sales in April versus last year, despite talk in the media about pent-up demand for autos and incentives that remain historically very high. Past hot performers like Subaru, Hyundai and Kia are dressed in red like the rest of them, though they, along with Audi, managed to fare better than most brands.



The biggest mover and shaker in the chart below appears to be the Ford brand, which, while down 29.96%, is grabbing market share from its competitors. It narrowly beat out Chevy and Toyota for the best selling brand in April. Toyota, however, took a punch to the gut with brand sales falling 42.19% and combined sales with Lexus dropping 41.87%. Only Chrysler LLC, down 48.10%, performed worse last month versus April 2008.

. Brand Volume April 2009 April 2008 DSR* DSR 4/09 DSR 4/08 . Ford -29.96% 116,263 165,997 -29.96% 4,472 6,385 . Chevrolet -26.71% 115,265 157,265 -26.71% 4,433 6,049 . Toyota -42.19% 112,345 194,350 -42.19% 4,321 7,475 . Honda -24.51% 92,216 122,155 -24.51% 3,547 4,698 . Dodge -48.24% 43,138 83,348 -48.24% 1,659 3,206 . Nissan -36.28% 42,258 66,318 -36.28% 1,625 2,551 . Hyundai -13.56% 33,952 39,280 -13.56% 1,306 1,511 . Kia -14.83% 25,606 30,066 -14.83% 985 1,156 . GMC -35.75% 20,467 31,854 -35.75% 787 1,225 . Jeep -41.69% 19,670 33,733 -41.69% 757 1,297 . Volkswagen -16.10% 16,289 19,415 -16.10% 627 747 . Mazda -32.07% 16,139 23,760 -32.07% 621 914 . BMW -41.26% 15,705 26,735 -41.26% 604 1,028 . Subaru -6.69% 15,649 16,771 -6.69% 602 645 . Mercedes-Benz -28.15% 14,565 20,271 -28.15% 560 780 . Lexus -39.21% 14,195 23,350 -39.21% 546 898 . Chrysler -54.76% 13,874 30,670 -54.76% 534 1,180 . Pontiac -54.86% 10,838 24,009 -54.86% 417 923 . Buick -29.51% 8,928 12,665 -29.51% 343 487 . Acura -32.34% 8,813 13,025 -32.34% 339 501 . Cadillac -41.94% 8,337 14,359 -41.94% 321 552 . Mercury -40.65% 7,662 12,910 -40.65% 295 497 . Saturn -56.38% 7,367 16,888 -56.38% 283 650 . Audi -9.31% 7,010 7,730 -9.31% 270 297 . Lincoln -42.23% 5,973 10,340 -42.23% 230 398 . Infiniti -48.29% 4,932 9,537 -48.29% 190 367 . Volvo -36.92% 4,503 7,138 -36.92% 173 275 . Mitsubishi -55.86% 3,919 8,878 -55.86% 151 341 . Mini -22.41% 3,657 4,713 -22.41% 141 181 . Suzuki -73.70% 2,543 9,669 -73.70% 98 372 . Porsche -35.28% 1,853 2,863 -35.28% 71 110 . Hummer -61.64% 913 2,380 -61.64% 35 92 . Saab -43.54% 892 1,580 -43.54% 34 61 . . COMPANIES . General Motors -33.69% 173,007 260,922 -33.69% 6,654 10,035 . Ford Motor Company -31.56% 134,401 196,385 -31.56% 5,169 7,553 . Toyota Mo Co -41.87% 126,540 217,700 -41.87% 4,867 8,373 . Honda America -25.26% 101,029 135,180 -25.26% 3,886 5,199 . Chrysler LLC -48.10% 76,682 147,751 -48.10% 2,949 5,683 . Nissan North America -37.79% 47,190 75,855 -37.79% 1,815 2,918 . BMW Group -38.43% 19,362 31,448 -38.43% 745 1,210 . . *The daily selling rate (DSR) is calculated with 26 days for April 2009 and for April 2008.

Data for By the Numbers comes directly from the automakers themselves. It is compiled and calculated by Autoblog in the above chart, which displays the volume sales data for the current month and same month last year, the volume change in percent, the average Daily Sales Rate for the current month and same month last year, and the DSR change in percent. All brands and automakers are ordered according to their current month volume sales data, greatest to least.