Automotive News - 1958 Stude Nine Month Market Share at 0.88%

[2R2]

From the November 10, 1958 issue of Automotive News, US market share, January thru September, 1958:

MAKE.........Mkt share.......Sales
Chev..........27.94%........965,640
Ford...........21.26%........734,868
Plymouth......8.67%........299,718
Olds.............6.69%........231,146
Buick............5.49%........189,831
Pontiac.........4.91%........169,745
Rambler........3.54%.........122,333
Mercury.......3.05%.........105,294
Dodge..........2.90%........100,281
Cad.............2.77%..........95,806
Chrysler........1.34%.........46,524
DeSoto.........1.08%.........37,230
Studebaker....0.87%........30,129
Edsel............0.83%........20,494
Imperial.........0.33%.......11,372
Metropoliton..0.26%..........9,186
Packard........0.07%..........2,276

The above sales figures are based on reported new car registrations. It is interesting to also see the import sales, and how they were either outselling Stude, or nipping at their heels:
VW...............................57,738
Renault..........................31,390
English Ford....................22,917
Fiat...............................14,157
Hillman...........................12,599
Being these figures are all January thru September, they of course would not show the impact of the Lark's introduction.

[qsanford]

Those statistics are very interesting. It sure puts things into perspective. Was there no mention of Lincoln sales? The import figures are eye opening, too. I never realized that many Hillmans were that popular!

[JRoberts]

Those statistics are very interesting. It sure puts things into perspective. Was there no mention of Lincoln sales? The import figures are eye opening, too. I never realized that many Hillmans were that popular!

What about Renault? In 1958 I would never have thought they outsold Studebaker. Looking at this makes you wonder how Studebaker lasted as long as it did.

[studegary]

15th in sales (16th if Lincoln is ahead of Studebaker). That is an average of only 3348 per MONTH for Studebaker.
Honda now manufactures 1900 new Accords per DAY in Ohio. I say manufacture because they now make engines and CVTs in Ohio as well as assembling the cars.

[studegary]

What about Renault? In 1958 I would never have thought they outsold Studebaker. Looking at this makes you wonder how Studebaker lasted as long as it did.

The Dauphine was very popular at that time. My next door neighbor bought a new 1958 Dauphine. IIRC, it replaced a 1950 Mercury. There wasn't a Renault dealer on "every corner", but there was one on Main Street in Poughkeepsie.

[BobPalma]

Eric: See if you might locate 1958 model yearsales. I really believe Rambler rose to 4th place overall for the entirety of the 1958 model year. As it is, we're only seeing nine months of the calendar year, as opposed to the all-important model year sales figures. BP.

[mike cenit]

Interesting: Plymouth, Oldsmoble, Pontiac, Rambler, Mercury, DeSoto, Studebaker, Edsal, Imperial, Metropoliten, and Packard all gone 11 out of 17 brands.

[studegary]

Eric: See if you might locate 1958 model yearsales. I really believe Rambler rose to 4th place overall for the entirety of the 1958 model year. As it is, we're only seeing nine months of the calendar year, as opposed to the all-important model year sales figures. BP.

I don't see how that was possible. Rambler had 122K for nine months and Oldsmobile (4th) had 231K for nine months. How could that kind of gap be made up in two or three more months?
You may be thinking of manufacturers, not brands - GM, Ford, Chrysler, AMC (4th).

[Milaca]

Was Metropolitan a division of Rambler at this time? I thought it was nothing more than a model of Rambler/AMC.

[8E45E]

Was Metropolitan a division of Rambler at this time? I thought it was nothing more than a model of Rambler/AMC.

Partially. It was made in England by Austin, with their 4 cylinder engine, and marketed by AMC as both a Rambler and a Hudson.

Craig

[studegary]

Was Metropolitan a division of Rambler at this time? I thought it was nothing more than a model of Rambler/AMC.

Metropolitan was a brand that was part of AMC at that time. There were Rambler-Metropolitan dealers, but that does not make it a Rambler Metropolitan (sort of like DeSoto-Plymouth dealers, etc.
The Yearly production for 1958 Metropolitans was 13,128.
The Yearly production for 1958 Ramblers was 186,227.
For Bob P's earlier question - Total 1958 Oldsmobile production was 310,795. This puts the total for AMC far behind Oldsmobile that was in fourth place.

[2R2]

Yes, I forgot Lincoln...0.26% market share, 20,494 sold for the first nine months. Also interesting that Metropolition is counted as a domestic, yet English Ford is a import (which of course they both are).

BP, I will keep my eyes open for other figures. I am only looking at the weekly issues of Automotive News right now, and have not dug up the Alamanacs yet. I am only skimming them, but tend to get distracted by other news. For example, the past few issues, all from '58, have had articles about how Tucker (yes, Tucker) dealers are involved in a lawsuit against the Tucker estate! I will say the same issue I found the above figures in also had a short article that October Rambler sales, at 26,748, where nearly triple October '57.

[BobPalma]

BP, I will keep my eyes open for other figures. I am only looking at the weekly issues of Automotive News right now, and have not dug up the Alamanacs yet. I am only skimming them, but tend to get distracted by other news. For example, the past few issues, all from '58, have had articles about how Tucker (yes, Tucker) dealers are involved in a lawsuit against the Tucker estate! I will say the same issue I found the above figures in also had a short article that October Rambler sales, at 26,748, where nearly triple October '57.

Thanks, Eric, but don't make a career of it. I've checked The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975 Production Figures and agree; even for calendar year 1958, Rambler could not have moved up to fourth place overall.

It may be that I read they moved up four places during the 1958 model year, from 1957. That would be believable, given the economics of the time. Even Studebaker sold a butt-load of Scotsmans due to the 1958 recession.

Speaking to the 1958 recession, cousin George Krem and I noticed something several years ago when researching all the 1958 Golden Hawk production records for his article that appeared in a later Turning Wheels.

The curiosity we noticed was the rate at which 1958 Golden Hawks were being built. Early in the model year, during the fall of 1957, they would be building a dozen or so 1958 Golden Hawks every couple days. But later, because sales were so bad as 1958 wore on, by June 1958, they'd be lucky to be building a dozen of them every two weeks...and every so often, a day in June or July would go by in which no Golden Hawks were manufactured! BP