July US auto sales: Ford rebounds; Honda, Toyota volume skids; Hyundai, Kia sales slide 5 straight months; Mazda off 29%

Following a 32 percent gain in June, Ford Motor said its July US sales volume jumped 37 percent, with Ford division deliveries rising 36 percent and Lincoln advancing 65 percent.

The automaker’s combined crossover and utility vehicle sales, driven by newer models such as the Mustang Mach-E, Bronco and Bronco Sport, surged 70 percent, while pickup truck volume rose 20 percent. Ford said over 50 percent of its retail sales in July came from previously placed orders.

Ford, in another sign its supply woes are easing, said it reopened retail orders on Tuesday for the Bronco Sport, Edge, Explorer and Ranger, after restarting retail orders for the F-150 and Transit a few weeks ago.

Sales dropped 21 percent at Toyota Motor last month, with deliveries down 21 percent at Toyota and 23 percent at Lexus. It was the 12th consecutive monthly decline for the Toyota division and Lexus’ sixth straight decline.

General Motors, which reports US sales results quarterly, lost more than 20,000 units in July, and was outsold by Toyota for the first time since January, LMC said.

Several of the Toyota brand’s top-sellers posted double-digit declines: Corolla, off 29 percent; Camry, down 24 percent; Highlander, off 49 percent. Sales of the RAV4, the nation’s top-selling compact crossover, dropped 8.3 percent to 37,749. But Toyota’s two pickups bucked the brand’s overall results, with Tacoma deliveries up 1.4 percent to 23,917 and Tundra volume surging 66 percent to 10,694.

Toyota said it ended July with 104.790 vehicles in stock — 14,258 at dealers and 90.532 in port or transit — or a 16-day supply.

Volume skidded 47 percent at Honda Motorcycle, with Acura off 59 percent and the Honda division down 46 percent. The Honda brand’s biggest sellers continued to post sharply lower sales last month: Accord, off 56 percent; Civic, down 67 percent; CR-V, down 31 percent; HR-V, off 69 percent and Pilot, down 27 percent.

American Honda said the Honda and Acura brands continue to see “unprecedented high turn rates,” reflecting “strong retail demand” despite supply chain and logistics constraints. The redesigned 2023 HR-V subcompact crossover posted July sales of over 4,000, “with everything left in the pipeline already pre-sold to customers,” Honda said.

Sales dropped 12 percent at Hyundai and 11 percent at Kia last month, mostly on weaker car volume. Only four Hyundai models — Accent, Santa Cruz, Tucson and Veloster — posted higher deliveries last month. At Kia, only two vehicles, the Sorento and Sportage crossovers, generated gains.

In one bright spot, combined sales of electric vehicles, hybrids and plug-in hybrids rose 12 percent at Hyundai and 86 percent at Kia, the companies reported Tuesday, though volumes remain low.

Hyundai said it ended July with 14,784 light vehicles in US inventory, down slighty from 17,922 at the close of June but off sharply from 46,113 at the end of July 2021.

After a slight gain in June volume that ended 12 consecutive monthly declines, Subaru returned to the minus column with a 17 percent drop in July deleiveries. Only three models posted gains last month: Crosstrek, Impreza and WRX/STI.

July volume skidded 29 percent to 23,393 at Mazda and the company said it closed July with just 6,868 vehicles on hand, or a 6-day supply.

Among other luxury brands, Volvo reported a 41 percent drop in July volume, its biggest decrease in a stretch of 11 straight monthly declines. US deliveries rose for the 20th consecutive month year over year at Genesis on July volume of 5,203, up slightly from 5,180 a year earlier.

The rest of the auto industry reports US sales on a quarerly basis.