January Auto Sales Suggest the Good Times Will Keep Rolling in 2013, says Edmunds.com
January Auto Sales Suggest the Good Times Will Keep Rolling in 2013, says Edmunds.com
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — January 24, 2013 — Edmunds.com, the premier resource for automotive information, forecasts that 1,045,587 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in January for an estimated Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 15.3 million light vehicles. The projected sales will be a 22.8 percent decrease from December but a 14.5 percent increase from January 2012.
"January's numbers show that vehicle sales stayed strong, even after the holiday ads faded away and the replacement sales following Hurricane Sandy started to dry up," says Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. "These results certainly reinforce the exuberance and optimism that filled the air last week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit."
| Sales Volume | Jan-13 Forecast | Jan-12 | Dec-12 | Change from Jan 2012* |
Change from Dec 2012* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | 195,262 | 167,962 | 245,733 | 16.3% | -20.5% |
| Ford | 164,317 | 136,293 | 212,902 | 20.6% | -22.8% |
| Toyota | 147,008 | 124,540 | 194,143 | 18.0% | -24.3% |
| Chrysler Group | 121,366 | 101,150 | 152,367 | 20.0% | -20.3% |
| Honda | 97,416 | 83,009 | 132,774 | 17.4% | -26.6% |
| Nissan | 82,235 | 79,313 | 99,290 | 3.7% | -17.2% |
| Industry | 1,045,587 | 912,954 | 1,355,218 | 14.5% | -22.8% |
Edmunds.com estimates that retail SAAR will come in at 12.4 million vehicles in January, with fleet transactions accounting for 19.0 percent of total sales. An estimated 3.21 million used cars will be sold in January, for a SAAR of 40.2 million (compared to 2.70 million — or a SAAR of 39.5 million — used car sales in December).
AUTOMAKER PERFORMANCE
In terms of market share, most of the Big Six automakers should expect to be in a better place than they were just a year ago. The only exception is Nissan, whose January share is expected to drop 0.8 percentage points year over year. But it's not all gloom and doom for Nissan: its share is projected to improve 0.6 points over December. Meanwhile, its fellow Japanese competitors Honda and Toyota are expected to see their shares slide 0.5 and 0.2 percentage points, respectively, this month.
| Market Share | Jan-13 Forecast | Jan-12 | Dec-12 | Change from January 2012 (Percentage pts.) |
Change from December 2012 (Percentage pts.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | 18.7% | 18.4% | 18.1% | 0.3% | 0.6% |
| Ford | 15.7% | 14.9% | 15.7% | 0.8% | 0.0% |
| Toyota | 14.1% | 13.6% | 14.3% | 0.4% | -0.2% |
| Chrysler Group | 11.6% | 11.1% | 11.2% | 0.5% | 0.4% |
| Honda | 9.3% | 9.1% | 9.8% | 0.2% | -0.5% |
| Nissan | 7.9% | 8.7% | 7.3% | -0.8% | 0.6% |
More insight into recent auto industry trends can be found in Edmunds.com's Industry Center.
About Edmunds.com
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