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U.S. auto sales fall in July, as Detroit dials back on inventory, rental sales

DETROIT — U.S. carmakers said on Tuesday they continued to slash low-margin sales to daily rental fleets in July as General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles struggled to curb a slide in retail sales. July is on track to be the fifth straight month in which the annual pace of car and light truck sales declined from the same month a year ago, in part because of fewer fleet sales, analysts and industry executives said. July 2016 sales hit a strong 17.9-million-vehicle pace. GM said the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate fell to an estimated 16.9 million vehicles in July. At midmorning on Tuesday, GM shares were down 3.4 percent at $34.77, Ford was down 2.8 percent at $10.91, and Fiat Chrysler shares were down 0.3 percent at $12.05 in New York. GM sales dropped 15 percent from a year ago to 226,107 vehicles, as the company cut rental fleet sales more than 80 percent. The automaker said inventories of unsold vehicles at month's end were 104 days, down from 105 days at the end of June. GM has promised investors to reduce inventories to 70 days by year-end. Ford said its July sales dipped 7.5 percent to 200,212 vehicles, as it cut fleet sales more than 26 percent. Inventories fell to 77 days from 79 the previous month. Fiat Chrysler said sales dropped 10 percent to 161,477, as it also cut back sales to daily rental fleets. Among the top Japanese companies, only Toyota reported a year-to-year gain, with sales up 4 percent to 222,057 — just 4,000 units behind GM. Honda sales were down 1 percent to 150,980 — its first-quarter sales continuing to decline in North America but seeing a big increase in China. And Nissan sales fell 3 percent to 128,295. GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler have cautioned that second-half financial results likely will be lower than first-half results, in part reflecting production cuts in North America and pricing pressures. The automakers this year have been deliberately dialing back sales to rental-car companies, which often generate little to no profit, while struggling to keep retail sales from sagging further, according to industry analysts. Industry consultant LMC cut its full-year forecast for new vehicle sales to 17 million vehicles. Automakers sold a record 17.55 million vehicles in the United States in 2016.

Chevy Volt 'acceptable,' Nissan Leaf 'poor' in new IIHS safety tests

Ford C-Max Hybrid also scored "acceptable" rating. With US Nissan Leaf sales up almost 30 percent during the first half of the year, the only thing that might be able to stop the battery-electric vehicle is a good, stiff barrier. Unfortunately, thing's aren't always pretty when that happens in the real world, according to new tests from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Things with the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in are a little bit rosier, though. The two plug-in vehicles were part of a batch of a dozen vehicles that just went through the IIHS's "small overlap" test, in which the driver's side front corner of the vehicle is crashed into a rigid barrier at 40 miles per hour. Out of the dozen, only the Mini Cooper Countryman was given a "good" rating. Five vehicles, including the Volt and the Ford C-Max Hybrid, were rated "acceptable," two were "marginal" and two, including the Leaf, were "poor." Plug-in vehicles are unique in the crash-test context because of their relatively large battery sizes. In the Volt's case, the driver had a "low risk" of injury, said the IIHS. But the Leaf's crash substantially pushed back the instrument panel and steering column, creating a scenario where the driver was "likely" to sustain leg injuries. The batteries in both the Leaf and the Volt passed safety tests specifically targeted at things like thermo and electrical properties and overall integrity. "Nissan is proud of the Leaf's 'Good' rating in all other IIHS tests, a 4-star NCAP rating from NHTSA and its IIHS Top Safety Pick rating in all previous years since the car's release," the company said in an e-mail sent to AutoblogGreen. "As for the performance of the 2014 Leaf in the 'small overlap frontal test,' Nissan will continue to review these and other results from the IIHS 'small overlap frontal test' as we seek opportunities for improvement." Check out the IIHS's press release and small car crash-test video footage below. Range of ratings: Small car ratings run the gamut in challenging small overlap front test The Mini Cooper Countryman is the only small car to earn a good rating among the latest group of 12 cars subjected to the Institute's small overlap front crash test. Two electric models and a hybrid also are in the mix, with varied results. The electric-powered Chevrolet Volt (with a gasoline engine "range extender") earns an acceptable rating, while its battery-electric rival, the Nissan Leaf, earns a poor rating.

Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi announce 35 new EVs by 2030

Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi are going all-in on EVs. The trio announced plans to release 35 new electric models globally by 2030, ranging from Japan-only kei cars to commercial vehicles, and they sketched out plans to develop next-generation solid-state batteries. The three carmakers will leverage the benefits of economies of scale to keep development and production costs in check. Many of the Alliance's models already ride on a common platform; the Nissan Sentra shares its bones with the third-generation Renault Scenic. Looking ahead, the plan is to build 80% of the cars in the group's global portfolio on common architectures. Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi are massive companies with a wide lineup of models, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, the strategy focuses on five basic modular platforms. CMF-AEV will be for so-called affordable electric cars. KEI-EV will be primarily for kei cars, LCV will underpin commercial vehicles, and CMF-EV was designed to underpin mainstream models including the Ariya. Finally, the CMF-BEV platform will underpin about 250,000 electric cars annually starting in 2024. These include the production version of the retro-styled 5 Prototype introduced in January 2021, at least one car assigned to the Alpine brand, and a replacement for the Micra (previewed above) that will be engineered and built by Renault. Most of these cars will be equipped with a lithium-ion battery pack; that's likely going to remain the best way to power an electric car in the coming years. However, Nissan has been tasked with developing solid-state battery technology that promises to greatly reduce charging times. A solid state battery is tentatively scheduled to enter production by the middle of 2028, though it's too early to tell which model(s) will inaugurate it. Digital services will play a significant role in the Alliance's future lineup as well. By 2026, Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi plan to connect 25 million cars to their cloud and over 10 million vehicles fitted with "autonomous driving systems" (a vague term that wasn't defined). All told, these investments will cost the group at least ˆ23 billion (around $26 billion at the current conversion rate) in the next five years. What does this mean for America?