The Detroit Three and non-domestic automakers on Friday reported sales of just less than 1.2 million units in the U.S. for last month, a six percent increase from February 2012. February sales hit an annualized rate of 15.4 million cars and trucks.
DETROIT- The U.S. automotive industry continued to prove its newfound resilience in February.
The Detroit Three and non-domestic automakers on Friday reported sales of just less than 1.2 million units in the U.S. for last month, a 4 percent increase from February 2012. February sales hit an annualized rate of 15.4 million cars and trucks.
Analysts and executives said the industry continues to outpace the economy even with higher Social Security taxes, gas prices hovering around $4 a gallon and the federal government’s “continued saga” of fiscal cliffs and the sequester.
“Autos remained really unaffected by a lot of these detractors,” said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com senior analyst. “That’s generally good news.”
February marked the fourth-straight month of the seasonally adjusted annual rate, or selling-rate of vehicles topping 15 million and a full-year of 1 million or more new car and truck sales for each month. January 2012 was the last month to not top 1 million in sales.
New models, pent-up demand and loosening credit continue to drive sales, according to analysts. Edmunds.com reports the average finance rate for new cars and trucks is about 4.3 percent.
The majority of the largest automakers in the world, including the Detroit Three, Toyota Motor Corp. and Volkswagen, all reported sales gains for February.
General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC last month combined for just short of 560,000 cars and trucks sold.
Jesse Toprak, TrueCar.com senior analyst said the Detroit automakers should be able to come close to sustaining their market shares from February for the rest of the year. GM’s share was 18.8 percent; Ford’s was 16.4 percent and Chrysler came in at 16.4 percent.
Of the Detroit automakers, Ford led its crosstown rivals with year-over-year sales growth 9 percent with 195,822 vehicles sold last month, marking its best February since 2006.
Ford's namesake brand was up 11 percent in February compared to a year ago, but its luxury Lincoln brand continues to struggle.
Lincoln’s sales were down nearly 30 percent last month compared to February 2012, as the Dearborn-based automaker continues to deliver the redesigned MKZ to dealerships.
Ken Czubay, Ford vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service, said Lincoln dealers should have normal MKZ stock volumes by early-April.
“MKZs arriving in dealerships are selling quickly,” he said during a conference call, adding the Dearborn-based automaker is delivering about 100 of the mid-size luxury sedans per day.
On the other side of the spectrum, GM’s luxury brands, as well as pickup truck sales helped the Detroit-based automaker post a 7 percent sales increase in February to 224,314 vehicles sold.
All four GM brands posted higher year-over-year sales: Cadillac was up 20 percent; Buick was up 15 percent; GMC was up 10 percent, and Chevrolet was up 5 percent.
Chevrolet’s increase was led by a 29 percent year-over-year increase in sales of the Silverado pickup, according to Kurt McNeil, GM vice president of U.S. sales operations.
“A significant tailwind for our industry in new home construction, which is creating jobs and fueling the demand for pickups,” he said during a conference call Friday with financial analysts and media. “GM really benefited from these trends.”
McNeil said GM's pickup sales to small businesses were up 40 percent from a year ago
Toprak said expect GM to continue to benefit from the pickup truck sales as it starts to roll out its new lineup of full-size pickups later this year. Ford also reported strong sales of its F-Series pickups, up 15 percent.
“When small businesses start buying, it’s usually a herd mentality,” Toprak said.
GM, as well as Ford and Chrysler, continue to benefit in pickups, as the average age of a U.S. pickup truck is just over 11 years.
Chrysler was the anomaly last month in regards to the Detroit Three. As pickups drove its competitor’s sales and small car sales declined, Chrysler’s cars improved 32 percent and sales of its trucks declined 8 percent.
“For Chrysler, their growth rate is simply not sustainable percentage wise,” Toprak told MLive.com. “But they also have a lot of product to look forward to.”
Led by a 30 percent increase in Dodge brand sales, the Auburn Hills-based automaker today reported vehicle sales increased 4 percent last month compared to February 2012, just topping 139,000 cars and trucks sold. It marks Chrysler’s 35th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains and best February sales since 2008.
February was Dodge’s best February sales in six years and its 21st-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.
Four Dodge brand vehicles set sales records in February, including the Dart compact sedan, Avenger mid-size sedan, Journey full-size crossover and Challenger muscle car.
Besides Dodge, vehicle sales of Chrysler's other brands were flat or down, showing the automaker's sales levels may finally be leveling out. Ram and Fiat brand sales were each up 2 percent compared to February 2012; Chrysler brand sales were down 7 percent; and Jeep sales were down 16 percent.
Experts continue to predict U.S. auto sales to come in between 15-15.5 million vehicles sold in 2013, a 1 million increase from last year.
Toprak said all of the Detroit Three have “a lot to look forward to” this year thanks to new products, such as the 2014 Cherokee for Chrysler and full-size pickup trucks for GM.
Other automakers’ February sales results:
- Toyota's sales were up just over 4 percent.
- Honda's sales fell 2 percent.
- Nissan Motor Co.'s sales were down 7 percent.
- Volkswagen AG's sales were up 3 percent.
- Hyundai Motor Co.'s sales were up 2 percent.