January Truck and SUV Sales Extend Auto Industry Momentum, says Edmunds.com
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — January 29, 2015 — Edmunds.com, the premier destination for car shopping, forecasts that 1,155,866 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in January for an estimated Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 16.7 million. The projected sales will be a 23.1 percent decrease from December 2014, but a 14.4 percent increase from January 2014.
"New car shoppers, seemingly inspired by winter weather and low gas prices, are buying up trucks and SUVs — particularly smaller ones," commented Jessica Caldwell, Senior Analyst for car shopping website Edmunds.com, whose team produced an insightful report on compact SUVs at //static.ed.edmunds-media.com/unversioned/img/industry-center/analysis/key.insights.compact.suv.pdf "At this point, most automakers and dealers offer products in these popular segments and are able to benefit from the trend."
| Sales Volume | January 2015 Forecast | January 2014 | December 2014 | Change from January 2014 | Change from December 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | 200,062 | 171,486 | 274,483 | 16.7% | -27.1% |
| Ford | 180,813 | 153,494 | 219,369 | 17.8% | -17.6% |
| Toyota | 168,002 | 146,365 | 215,057 | 14.8% | -21.9% |
| Chrysler Group | 143,975 | 127,183 | 193,261 | 13.2% | -25.5% |
| Honda | 103,797 | 91,631 | 137,280 | 13.3% | -24.4% |
| Nissan | 100,386 | 90,470 | 117,318 | 11.0% | -14.4% |
| Hyundai/Kia | 89,649 | 81,016 | 110,094 | 10.7% | -18.6% |
| VW/Audi | 37,794 | 33,595 | 53,116 | 12.5% | -28.8% |
| Industry | 1,155,866 | 1,010,074 | 1,503,321 | 14.4% | -23.1% |
January 2014 had 25 and December 2014 had 26.
This analysis is unadjusted for that difference.
Edmunds.com estimates that retail SAAR will come in at 13.8 million vehicles in January, with fleet transactions accounting for 17.4 percent of total sales. An estimated 2.9 million used cars will be sold in January, for a SAAR of 35.8 million (compared to 2.4 million — or a SAAR of 35.6 million — used car sales in December).
| Market Share | January 2015 Forecast | January 2014 | December 2014 | Change from January 2014 | Change from December 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | 17.3% | 17.0% | 18.3% | 0.3% | -1.0% |
| Ford | 15.6% | 15.2% | 14.6% | 0.4% | 1.1% |
| Toyota | 14.5% | 14.5% | 14.3% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Chrysler Group | 12.5% | 12.6% | 12.9% | -0.1% | -0.4% |
| Honda | 9.0% | 9.1% | 9.1% | -0.1% | -0.2% |
| Nissan | 8.7% | 9.0% | 7.8% | -0.3% | 0.9% |
| Hyundai/Kia | 7.8% | 8.0% | 7.3% | -0.3% | 0.4% |
| VW/Audi | 3.3% | 3.3% | 3.5% | -0.1% | -0.3% |
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 website Edmunds serves nearly 18 million visitors each month. With Edmunds.com Price Promise®, shoppers can get an instant, upfront price for cars and trucks currently for sale at 10,000 dealer franchises across the U.S. Car shoppers can browse not only inventory listings at Edmunds.com and on its acclaimed apps, but also comprehensive car reviews, shopping tips, photos, videos and feature stories. Named by Maritz Research as one of the most trusted online consumer review sites — and the only automotive site listed in the top ten — Edmunds.com welcomes all car-shopping questions at our Help Center and on Twitter and Facebook. Based in Santa Monica with a satellite office in downtown Detroit, Edmunds.com can also be found on Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Google+ and Flipboard.
