Edmunds.com Forecasts Best April Car Sales Since 2007
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — April 25, 2013 — Edmunds.com, the premier resource for automotive information, forecasts that 1,306,901 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in April for an estimated Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 15.2 million light vehicles. This will be a 10.4 percent increase from April 2012, but a 10.0 percent decrease from last month.
"We're forecasting the best April car sales since 2007, and that's consistent with the strong growth we've seen in the last several months," says Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. "Sales are almost back to pre-recession levels, so as long as automakers keep reporting their best sales in at least five years, we'll continue to be in good shape."
| Sales Volume | Apr-13 Forecast | Apr-12 | Mar-13 | Change from Apr 2012* | Change from Mar 2013* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | 237,835 | 213,387 | 245,950 | 11.5% | -3.3% |
| Ford | 208,842 | 179,658 | 235,643 | 16.2% | -11.4% |
| Toyota | 183,933 | 178,044 | 205,342 | 3.3% | -10.4% |
| Chrysler Group | 156,194 | 141,165 | 171,603 | 10.6% | -9.0% |
| Honda | 132,520 | 122,012 | 136,038 | 8.6% | -2.6% |
| Nissan | 92,976 | 71,329 | 137,726 | 30.3% | -32.5% |
| Industry | 1,306,901 | 1,183,866 | 1,452,269 | 10.4% | -10.0% |
Edmunds.com estimates that retail SAAR will come in at 12.4 million vehicles in April, with fleet transactions accounting for 18.7 percent of total sales. An estimated 3.25 million used cars will be sold in April, for a SAAR of 37.0 million (compared to 3.43 million — or a SAAR of 36.7 million — used car sales in March).
AUTOMAKER PERFORMANCE
Edmunds.com projects that in April Nissan will have a bigger year-over-year sales increase (30.3%) than any other major automaker. Nissan will achieve this distinction despite incurring the biggest sales decrease (-32.5%) of any automaker from March to April. This anomaly can be attributed to Nissan's annual practice of aggressively pushing sales to close out its fiscal year, which ended in March.
| Market Share | Apr-13 Forecast | Apr-12 | Mar-13 | Change from April 2012 (Percentage pts.) |
Change from March 2013 (Percentage pts.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | 18.2% | 18.0% | 16.9% | 0.2% | 1.3% |
| Ford | 16.0% | 15.2% | 16.2% | 0.8% | -0.2% |
| Toyota | 14.1% | 15.0% | 14.1% | -1.0% | -0.1% |
| Chrysler Group | 12.0% | 11.9% | 11.8% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Honda | 10.1% | 10.3% | 9.4% | -0.2% | 0.8% |
| Nissan | 7.1% | 6.0% | 9.5% | 1.1% | -2.4% |
Edmunds.com also found that even as most automakers manage to increase sales year over year, Hyundai and Kia will stand out in April for delivering fewer sales than in 2012. As a result Hyundai and Kia will see its U.S. sales share drop a full percentage point from 9.3 percent in April 2012 to 8.3 percent this month.
More insight into recent auto industry trends can be found in Edmunds.com's Industry Center.
About Edmunds.com
Edmunds.com is a car-shopping Web site committed to helping people find the car that meets their every need. Almost 18 million visitors use our research, shopping and buying tools every month to make an easy and informed decision on their next new or used car. Whether you're at the dealership or on the go, we're always by your side with our five-star Edmunds.com iPhone and iPad apps and our Edmunds.com Android App. Our comprehensive car reviews, shopping tips, photos, videos and feature stories offer a friendly and authentic approach to the automotive world. We're based in Santa Monica, Calif., but you can connect with us from anywhere by following @Edmunds on Twitter or by becoming a fan of Edmunds.com on Facebook.
