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Thursday, July 2, 2009
Subaru's sales buck the industry's June swoon

The bigger the car maker, the harder the sales fall.

The U.S. vehicle sales numbers for June fell short of expectations, missing the 10 million annual rate the bailout twins, Chrysler (down 42 percent) and General Motors (down 33 percent), say they need to break even.

But several smaller companies continue hold their own in 2009, including Cherry Hill’s Subaru of America Inc. For June, Subaru’s sales were 18,620 units, up 3 percent. For the first six months, its sales are down only 1 percent.

But being small doesn’t insulate every brand from double-digit declines. BMW’s Mini USA unit, based in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., reported June sales of 4,105 cars, down 21 percent.

Of course, perhaps Mini is too mini, with only 83 dealers in the U.S.; in contrast, Subaru has 600. Mini said it plans to add 17 dealerships during the next 18 months, including one each in Mount Laurel and Allentown, Pa.

Beat It

Investors can be merciless when a company management that has reaffirmed its financial outlook decides to lower it eight days later.

That’s what CardioNet Inc. did Tuesday evening. Yesterday, its shares, which trade under the symbol “BEAT”, fell 42 percent to $9.57 from $16.32 the day before.

Randy Thurman, CEO of the Conshohocken provider of wireless cardiac monitoring devices, faced analysts on a conference call yesterday, and it was far from the clubby atmosphere that marks many such gatherings.

CardioNet cut its adjusted earnings per share to 30 to 35 cents from 69 to 73 cents, and cut its revenue outlook.

Ninety percent of the reduction in revenue can be blamed on “downward pressure” by commercial insurance payers, Thurman said.

Several times, Thurman referred to CardioNet’s role as a pioneer in wireless medicine, a field so new everything is in flux, including insurers paying for it.

What’s going on with commercial insurers should be “a mere bump in the road for those committed to the potential for wireless medicine,” he said.

But the reaction of investors, so close to the Fourth of July holiday weekend, showed little patience with the health-care “revolution” that Thurman described.

Posted by Mike Armstrong @ 2:30 AM  Permalink | File Under: Health-care Services | | Manufacturing | Post a comment
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About Mike Armstrong
Mike Armstrong, a business editor and writer for nearly two decades, is the Inquirer's business columnist and PhillyInc blog editor.
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