General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra told reporters she expects steady growth of U.S. auto sales this year, reaching 16.5 million to 17 million with the help of growing employment, low gas prices and expected younger and first-time buyers. Sales grew 5.9% in 2014 to 16.5 million sales, the highest level since 2006.
Led by double-digit sales increases at Fiat Chrysler, GM, Hyundai-Kia, Toyota and Subaru, the U.S. auto industry closed out a stellar 2014 with a blockbuster December as consumers took advantage of year-end deals, lower fuel prices and an improving economy. Light-vehicle sales rose 11% in December — slightly above forecasts — and 6% to 16.53 million for the year.
December was once a sleepy month for U.S. auto sales. Now it’s one of the top-selling periods, year after year, as consumers and many of the industry’s marketing minds have embraced the notion of cars as holiday gifts.
The good times, at least in terms of new car sales, will continue to roll in 2015 with nearly 17 million vehicles expected to pass through dealer lots, according to the National Auto Dealers Association. The organization expects the industry will sell 16.94 million new vehicles next year — which would be up from the expected 16.4 million this year — due to rising employment and wages, continued low interest rates and lower gasoline prices.
Car sales are up 5% and ad budgets are up 17% this year with online media accounting for 95% of this year’s increase, Borrell Media’s Automotive Outlook for 2014 finds. By the end of 2014, the automotive industry will be spending more than half of its $35.5 billion automotive ad budget on digital media, the report says.
U.S. light-vehicle sales, led by double-digit increases at Chrysler Group and Nissan Motor, rose 6% to 1.28 million in October, matching forecasts, with crossovers and light trucks fueling much of the industry’s gains. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate, a broad measure of the industry’s health, hit 16.5 million, slightly above projections and up 7% from 15.4 million a year earlier.
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Chrysler’s sales leaped 20% in August as the Jeep brand led the automaker to its best August in a dozen years. Nissan reported nearly a 12% increase. Toyota reported sales were up 6%, Ford and Honda sales each rose 0.4% and Hyundai saw a 6% gain. Of major automakers, only General Motors and Volkswagen posted declines, with GM down 1.2% and struggling Volkswagen off almost 13% from a year ago.
Toyota said net income in the April-to-June period rose to a record 587.8 billion yen ($5.7 billion) as surging SUV sales in the United States eclipsed shrinking demand in Japan. The company raised its North America vehicle sales target for the year.
Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. announced Wednesday that January-June global sales totaled 5.097 million vehicles, up nearly 4% from a year earlier. Sales grew in its home Japanese market as well in the rest of Asia, U.S. and Europe. Volkswagen of Germany sold 4.97 million vehicles in the first half, outpacing General Motors Co. at 4.92 million vehicles, according to figures released earlier this month.
May is traditionally a strong month for the auto industry, as buyers spend their tax returns and think ahead to summer road trips. This year’s calendar, with five weekends, gave it an extra boost. Sales were particularly strong the last weekend of the month, automakers said. Sales rose 11% to about 1.6 million in May, the highest monthly total since July 2005.
Automakers said Tuesday that new car and truck sales picked up speed halfway through the month, culminating in a strong final weekend. Toyota dealers had their two best sales weekends of the year at the end of the month, the company said. Industry sales rose 6% to 1.5 million vehicles, far outpacing analysts’ expectations. The sales pace was the fastest since November, according to Autodata Corp.
U.S. light-vehicle sales, dampened by lower fleet shipments and severe winter weather across large chunks of the country, fell 3% in January.
Chrysler and General Motors lead the gains as industry volume rose 9% last month to 1.24 million units.
Ford and Chrysler Group reported an increase in September deliveries today, bucking a projected industrywide decline, while sales fell at GM, Toyota, Honda and Nissan. Ford rose 6% and Chrysler was up 1%, extending its streak of consecutive monthly gains to 42. Toyota fell 4%, Nissan was down 6%, Honda slipped 10% and GM dropped 11% while outselling rival Ford by only 2,743 light vehicles.
Sales in August ran at an annual rate of 16.1 million cars and trucks, a pace not seen since November of 2007, a month before the start of the Great Recession.
Auto sales are surging across the country, touching off a virtuous cycle of healthy competition, job-creating investment and high-tech innovation that stands apart from much of the still-sputtering economy.
Last month, car sales took off. General Motors’ car sales jumped 24 percent. Sales of the Honda Civic small car were up 30% to 32,416, their best July in 13 years. Sales of the recently redesigned Ford Fiesta subcompact jumped 89% while the Toyota Prius hybrid was up 40%.
Led by pickups, most automakers topped analysts’ expectations last month, with Nissan reporting its highest May sales ever after cutting prices on seven popular models. Chrysler, Ford, Honda and Toyota also reported increases. Only Volkswagen’s sales were down from last May.
Strong pickup truck demand in March powered U.S. auto sales to their highest monthly total since August 2007, as everyone from oil and gas producers to local home builders raced to replace the aging trucks they held onto during the recession. Overall auto sales rose 3.4% to 1.45 million, according to Autodata Corp.
Finbar O’Neill, president of J.D. Power & Associates, painted a picture of a U.S. automotive industry that is healthy and getting stronger, while the global outlook is bright except for Europe. In the U.S., new vehicles sales have already rebounded by more than 10% annually since 2010, O’Neill said at the 2013 Automotive Forum in New York City. This year, U.S. industry sales of new cars and trucks should exceed 15.3 million, up from 14.4 million in 2012, O’Neill said.
The chief economist of the National Automobile Dealers Association says more than 15.4 million new vehicles will be purchased or leased in the United States this year, an increase of 1 million vehicles over 2012. Last year, 14.4 million new vehicles were sold.
Toyota, Volkswagen and Chrysler were among the companies posting impressive increases for November, which is normally a lackluster month because of colder weather and holiday distractions. Only General Motors was left struggling to explain yet another month of weak growth. Industry sales rose 15% from a year earlier to 1.1 million, according to AutoData.
Cheap loans and a bounty of fuel-efficient models enticed people to buy new vehicles at a brisk pace last month. And the nation enjoyed another year-over-year surge in home prices in August — a sign that the housing industry is making a sustained comeback.
For much of this year, gains in United States auto sales have been a bright spot in an economy that remains weighed down by joblessness, a still-sluggish housing market and global uncertainty. Now, those outside factors have started to drag on the auto industry, likely slowing the rate that sales will grow through 2013, analysts say.
U.S. auto sales are on pace for the best showing since 2007 and a third straight year of at least 10% gains, only the fourth such streak since the Great Depression, as more-confident buyers return to showrooms. Automakers are adding overnight shifts and cutting workers’ vacations to meet demand.
The car and truck maker said Wednesday that it now expects full-year U.S. sales to be in the range of 14.5 million to 15 million. That’s up from 13.5 million to 14.5 million at the beginning of this year.
New vehicle sales in March are expected to rise 6% from last year due to strong demand in the retail market, according to J.D. Power & Associates and LMC Automotive.
Three years after the U.S. auto industry nearly collapsed, sales of cars and trucks are surging. Sales could exceed 14 million this year, above last year’s 12.8 million. Carmakers are adding shifts and hiring thousands of workers around the country.
Automakers report U.S. sales for 2011 on Wednesday. When final figures are calculated, sales of new cars and trucks are expected to reach 12.7 million, up from 11.5 million in 2010 and 10.4 million in 2009, the worst year since 1982. In 2012, they could climb as high as 13.8 million, close to what experts consider a healthy market — around 14 million.
Rising employment, better credit availability, new products and urgency to replace aging vehicles will drive U.S. auto sales higher in 2012, forecasters say. Sales predictions from 11 independent analysts ranged from 13 million light vehicles (Wells Fargo Securities) to 14 million (Morgan Stanley).
New-Car Sales Pace To Top 13 Million In Dec.
The auto sales rate for the United States in December is expected to top 13 million on an annual basis for the fourth consecutive month, indicating uncertainty about the economy has not slowed the industry down.
The U.S. auto industry is seeing demand recover faster than anticipated, with carmakers headed toward their best annual performance in three years at sales of 12.8 million vehicles.
