Auto Industry Poised to Deliver Best February Sales Performance Since 2000, Forecasts Edmunds.com
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — February 25, 2016 — An estimated1,354,503 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in February for an estimated Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 17.7 million, according a new forecast from car shopping destination Edmunds.com. The projected sales will be an 18.3 percent increase from January 2016, and a 7.9 percent increase from February 2015. The 17.7 million SAAR would mark the highest in the month of February since 2000.
"Typically January and February are relatively slow months in terms of car sales; if that’s true for 2016, and we only go up from here, we are looking at a remarkable year," said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell.
| Sales Volume | February 2016 Forecast |
February 2015 | January 2016 | Change from February 2015 |
Change from January 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | 240,926 | 231,379 | 203,745 | 4.1% | 18.2% |
| Ford | 210,322 | 179,671 | 172,478 | 17.1% | 21.9% |
| Toyota | 191,360 | 180,467 | 161,283 | 6.0% | 18.6% |
| Fiat Chrysler | 177,724 | 163,587 | 155,037 | 8.6% | 14.6% |
| Nissan | 127,307 | 118,436 | 105,734 | 7.5% | 20.4% |
| Honda | 118,171 | 105,466 | 100,497 | 12.0% | 17.6% |
| Hyundai/Kia | 101,909 | 96,535 | 83,316 | 5.6% | 22.3% |
| VW/Audi | 36,297 | 37,165 | 31,929 | -2.3% | 13.7% |
| Industry | 1,354,503 | 1,255,485 | 1,144,989 | 7.9% | 18.3% |
*NOTE: February 2016 had 24 selling days, February 2015 had 24 and January 2015 had 24.
Edmunds.com estimates that retail SAAR will come in at 13.8 million vehicles in February, with fleet transactions accounting for 21.9 percent of total sales. An estimated 3.5 million used cars will be sold in February, for a SAAR of 37.9 million (compared to 3.1 million — or a SAAR of 38.7 million — used car sales in January).
| Market Share | February 2016 Forecast |
February 2015 | January 2016 | Change from February 2015 |
Change from January 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | 17.8% | 18.4% | 17.8% | -0.6% | 0.0% |
| Ford | 15.5% | 14.3% | 15.1% | 1.2% | 0.5% |
| Toyota | 14.1% | 14.4% | 14.1% | -0.2% | 0.0% |
| Fiat Chrysler | 13.1% | 13.0% | 13.5% | 0.1% | -0.4% |
| Nissan | 9.4% | 9.4% | 9.2% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Honda | 8.7% | 8.4% | 8.8% | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| Hyundai/Kia | 7.5% | 7.7% | 7.3% | -0.2% | 0.2% |
| VW/Audi | 2.7% | 3.0% | 2.8% | -0.3% | -0.1% |
More insight into recent auto industry trends can be found in Edmunds.com’s Industry Center at http://www.edmunds.com/industry-center/.
About Edmunds.com
Car shopping destination Edmunds.com serves nearly 20 million visitors each month. With Edmunds.com Price Promise®, shoppers can buy smarter with instant, upfront prices for cars and trucks currently for sale at 10,000 dealer franchises across the U.S. Shoppers can browse not only dealer inventory, but also vehicle reviews, shopping tips, photos, videos and feature stories on both Edmunds' wired site and on its acclaimed mobile apps. Regarded as one of the best places to work in Southern California, Edmunds.com was also named one of "The World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 in Automotive" by Fast Company. Edmunds welcomes all car-shopping questions at our Help Center and help@edmunds.com and on Twitter and Facebook. The company is based in Santa Monica, Calif. and has a satellite office in downtown Detroit, Mich., but you can find Edmunds from anywhere on YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+ and Flipboard.
