Winter Storm Jonas brought heavy snow and extra cold temperatures to a large areas of the US, prompting car buyers to defer trips to dealer showrooms.
January light vehicle sales came in at about 1.15m, 0.4% down from January 2015 and in line with analysts’ forecasts. That translated into a seasonally adjusted annualised rate (SAAR) of 17.55m, about 860,000 sales ahead of last January and slightly higher than the December 2015 reading.
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Once again, crossovers and SUVs were the main event with nearly 446,000 sales. Market share rose 2.5% to 38.8% of total volume. Light trucks accounted for 59.5% of all sales in January.
FCA was the big mover among the major automakers, reporting its 70th consecutive month of year over year improvement. Sales were up 6.9%, driven by a surge from Dodge. The boost, coupled with another good month from Jeep, put FCA in the top spot in crossover/SUV segment sales. Jeep repeated as America’s preferred utility brand.
Slumping car sales and slippage in key truck model deliveries wiped out a modest boost in Ford utility sales. The folks in Dearborn started the year in the red by 2.8%. Ford’s disappointment was tempered a bit by a nice increase in Transit van sales and a bump in Lincoln’s numbers.
General Motors finished the month 959 sales ahead of January 2015, good for a 0.5% gain. Sales of GM cars rose slightly and the Silverado and Sierra pickups were in the black but utility sales were down 2.5%.
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By GlobalDataThe Detroit automakers gained another 0.7% of the total market, mostly at the expense of the Japanese.
Both Honda and Toyota were in negative territory at the end of January. In Honda’s case, slow utility sales by both the Honda and Acura brands were the culprits. Toyota was hit by slow car sales and a 9.5% drop in Lexus results.
Nissan capitalised on record sales of crossovers to set a January record despite an 11.8% decline in Infiniti deliveries. Sales of the Rogue jumped 26.3% last month.
Subaru set a new January sales record while Mazda and Mitsubishi joined Honda and Toyota in the deficit department.
Hyundai and Kia set new monthly records, though Kia’s margin was a grand total of six sales.
Daimler set a new January benchmark, starting the year at the top of the premium segment. BMW took a 4% hit and dropped to the number three spot, behind Lexus. Audi finished fourth with another monthly sales record.
Volvo had another good month, thanks to the XC90 which accounted for about 56% of total deliveries.
Volkswagen got hammered in January. The only question is whether short supplies or consumer wrath played more of a role.
Aggressive lease programmes helped somewhat: Jetta turnover was down just slightly and Tiguan deliveries continued to soar. Those programmes have been replaced by less aggressive offers so perhaps February’s numbers will tell the tale of car versus cash in the buying decision.
Cash is likely to play a large part in setting another sales record in 2016. While the 2015’s rate of purchase was the highest since 2006, it was 15.6% lower than the rate in 2000, the previous record year. Car-loan terms hit a new record of 66 months in 2015. Incentive spending is up as manufacturers try to keep the action going.
While the outlook for sales is still a bit murky, 2016 might just be a real good year to buy a new car.
Members’ Report: U.S. light vehicle sales
* indicates a sales record.
**Volkswagen Group figures include Audi, Bentley, Porsche and Volkswagen brands
Other includes estimated sales for Aston-Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, Rolls-Royce and Tesla
Source: Manufacturer’s reported sales
Copyright © 2015 just-auto.com
