April U.S. auto sales: Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia volume falls by double digits again as chip woes bite

U.S. sales at Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor, Hyundai and Kia dropped by double digits in April compared with a year earlier, when industry volume soared briefly, as key parts shortages and jammed supply lines continue to undermine light-vehicle output and shipments.

Toyota Motor, saddled by some of the industry’s lowest inventory levels, said April volume skidded 23 percent, with deliveries down 23 percent at the Toyota division and 18 percent at Lexus. Sales at Toyota Motor, the top-selling automaker in the U.S. last year and in the first quarter, have now dropped nine consecutive months.

The Toyota brand’s top sellers all racked up double-digit declines last month: Camry, off 12 percent; RAV4, down 18 percent; Highlander, off 29 percent; Corolla, down 21 percent; and Tacoma, off 27 percent.

Toyota Motor closed April with a 20-day supply of vehicles; 137,067 cars and lights trucks, or just 13,831 in dealer stock and 123,236 at ports or in transit, a spokesman said.

Honda Motor Co., citing “difficult supply constraints,” said sales fell 40 percent in April, the company’s ninth-straight month of decline, with deliveries down 41 percent at the Honda division and 33 percent at Acura.

Four of the Honda brand’s five biggest sellers dropped by 20 percent or more: Accord, down 20 percent; Civic, off 51 percent; CR-V, down 56 percent; and Pilot, down 43 percent. HR-V deliveries rose 6 percent.

A Honda spokesman said Tuesday the company started 2022 with U.S. dealer stocks under 20,000 cars and light trucks and began April slightly below that level. For comparison, the automaker had 300,000 vehicles in dealer inventory at the start of 2021.

Deliveries fell 20 percent at Hyundai and 16 percent at Kia last month, mostly on weaker car sales. It was the second-straight month of double-digit declines at the two Korean brands.

“We continue to have challenges with production and distribution of our vehicles,” said Eric Watson, head of U.S. sales for Kia. “Our dealer inventories continue to be at historic lows, somewhere between seven and nine days’ supply of vehicles on the ground.”

With an expanded crossover lineup, its first pickup and the new Ioniq 5 electric vehicle, Hyundai has focused on retail sales, which tallied 61,668 last month. The company reported zero fleet deliveries in April for the fourth month.

Hyundai closed April with 15,809 vehicles in inventory, down from 17,271 at the start of the month and 123,046 a year ago.

Randy Parker, senior vice president of national sales for Hyundai Motor America, said the company continues to sell at a very high efficiency rate because demand remains “extremely” high.

“We do see light at the end of the tunnel, perhaps in the third and fourth quarter,” Parker said. “Based on our current business plan we should start to see some improvement in product availability.”

Subaru deliveries, down 25 percent in April, dropped for the 11th consecutive month. Volume edged down 3.3 percent at Mazda, snapping two consecutive monthly gains.

At Genesis, April volume rose 53 percent to 5,039, a record for the month and the brand’s 17th straight increase.

Ford Motor Co. and Volvo will release results Wednesday.

U.S. new-vehicle sales are expected to fall around 20 percent in April, analysts predict, as automakers struggle to rebuild depleted dealer inventories amid the chronic microchip shortage and other supply chain hurdles. The period of March, April and May 2021 was among the hottest three-month stretches in the history of U.S. auto sales, reflecting a sharp rebound from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and a time before the chip shortage began throttling global production.

Overall, retail sales could fall 24 percent to 1.1 million vehicles in April from a year earlier, LMC and J.D. Power estimate.