Whether it was winter’s chill or exhaustion from December’s binge, US car buyers stayed home in January. Fortunately, there were two fewer selling days last month, so automakers could still post a 2.3% improvement over January 2004 even though total volume was down 5.5%.
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WardAuto.com reports just over 1.06 million light vehicles left dealer lots in January, yielding a seasonally-adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 16.23 million units, the weakest showing since June 2004 and 120,000 sales off the pace set last January.
Based on daily sales rate (DSR), most manufacturers came in ahead of their results from last year, though only a half-dozen actually sold more vehicles. Chrysler, Nissan, BMW, Hyundai, Kia and Suzuki all beat their 2004 benchmarks in both DSR and volume.
Thanks to the shorter sales month, Chrysler was able to turn a small bump in total sales into a 9.2% leap in DSR and claim a 14% market share.
General Motors was able to leverage DSR into its first improvement in recent months, coming in 1.1% ahead of January 2004. The General got some additional good news as Chevrolet outsold Ford and the Colorado became the best-selling compact pickup.
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By GlobalDataEven though it remained the overall sales leader, Ford’s F-Series hit a wall in January, coming up 13.8% shy of its 2004 mark. The bad news didn’t end there; Ford sales were off 4.9% as improved totals for the Mustang, Five Hundred and other new models couldn’t compensate for double-digit drops in Dearborn’s older vehicles.
The mass-market SUV segment continues to soften. While a drop in light truck sales is common during the first quarter of the year, SUVs gave up almost two points of market share last month. Compared to their volume in January 2004, SUV sales were down an adjusted 4.2%, led by significant declines in sales of the larger, truck-based vehicles. Growth seems to be coming from luxury brands and the car-based crossovers.
Two factors may accelerate this shift. US petrol prices are rising again and are already well above their levels at this time last year. There is also a new, nation-wide campaign intended to educate drivers about the potential dangers of SUVs, especially in the hands of younger operators. While it is not one of the stated goals of the campaign, this may influence potential buyers to look elsewhere for a new family vehicle.
Led by the Toyota Camry and Chevrolet Impala, passenger cars picked up the lion’s share of the sales given up by the SUVs, bouncing back to their largest share of the market since last June.
After three months of increased share, premium brands dropped back to 10.8% of total light vehicle sales. Lexus remains the leader, followed by BMW and Cadillac. Volvo’s streak of month-over-month volume improvements came to an end, but it is still the clear leader in Ford’s PAG.
From a product viewpoint, 2005 should be exciting as a number of critical new vehicles hit the market and recently introduced models hit their stride. Considering the number of new passenger cars being introduced by GM and Ford, it will definitely be worth watching to see if Detroit can recapture some of the market share it has lost in recent years.
Bill Cawthon
Ward’s US Light Vehicles Sales Summary |
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Ward’s US Light Vehicles Sales by Company |
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Ward’s 10 Best Selling Cars and Trucks |
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