February Sales: Very Strong Month Saves GM's Honor

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

First new car sale numbers are coming in for February, and they are better than the most optimistic projections. Chrysler Group is up 40 percent, with the sales of Chrysler branded cars up a whopping 114 percent. GM did beat expectations by registering a small 1.1 percent gain on 209,306 units sold in February. Analysts had expected a drop of GM sales by several percent.

Ford came in slightly better than expectations by posting a 14 percent increase in February U.S. sales on 179,119 vehicles sold. The analysts had expected 12.7 percent (averaged.)

GM’s hide and honor were saved by a very strong overall market. GM thinks that 1.1 million light vehicles changed hands in February, the consensus prediction of Kelley, TrueCar and Edmunds was 1.08. GM and Chrysler expect a February SAAR of around 14.9 million.

Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs commented on the early numbers:

“What a difference four years makes and a change in product lines make for General Motors and Ford. In 2008, when gas prices spiked, GM did not have competitive small fuel-efficient cars, but with today’s rising gas prices, GM sales of the fuel-efficient Chevrolet Sonic and Chevrolet Cruze are soaring, carrying the brand and the company. At Ford, the revised Focus has taken off with a triple-digit increase over a year ago for its best year in more than a decade.”

Not just sales rose, transaction prices rose also, while incentives dropped slightly. TrueCar says that the average new car did cost $30,605 when it left the lot in February, up 6.8 percent from a year before. People paid 8.9 percent more for their Hyundai than in February last year. Average incentives are $2,468, or 8.1 percent of the transaction price, down 0.9 percent from February 2011. Jesse Toprak, VP of Market Intelligence for TrueCar.com says:

“With gas prices rising, more than one-fifth of all cars sold in February will be subcompact or compact cars, yet transaction prices continue to rise as consumers are looking for highly-equipped vehicles.”

We will report on February sales throughout the day.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • TheHammer TheHammer on Mar 01, 2012

    Why don't they change the name of this site to GM Hate?

    • See 1 previous
    • Highdesertcat Highdesertcat on Mar 02, 2012

      They don't have to. GM died. GM was bailed out by we, the people, and still manages to do no better. Even Chrysler, another failed company bailed out by we, the people, is seeing stronger sales since we, the people, bribed Fiat with $1.3B to take that rotting carcass off or hands. Unless we give GM away like we did Chrysler, we'll never see an improvement, nor will we ever get our bail out money back. It's not hate. It's just telling it like it is. If not for the bail out bucks, GM wouldn't even be on this list. What if Ford had been the worst company on this list instead of GM? Ford is a success story. Chrysler under Fiat is doing great. Where's GM? Still in the toilet. No hate. Just more of the same failure.

  • 95_SC 95_SC on Mar 01, 2012

    I do wonder what is going on here. I certainly don't see Chryslers offerings as any better than GMs yet Chrysler is way up. Though I don't currently drive any domestics I am pulling for them and would buy one if they would build what I want.

    • See 3 previous
    • Windswords Windswords on Mar 02, 2012

      A couple of things are at work here. One is that now that Chrysler is stable and has good product those who were inclined to buy from them but stayed away because they did like what was offered/or didn't know if they would be in existence anymore are back in the fold. The other is that there are some true conquest sales of those who would normally consider another make are trying them out. As for rentals, they have been reducing fleet sales. They are not that high now. I see lots of other products at the rental lot now. Kia's, Hyundai's, Toyota's and Ford's. Also remember it depends on the rental company you deal with. Some feature one makers product over all others because they have special agreements with those manufacturers. If you go to a Thrifty lot and see a lot of Chrysler's it doesn't mean that it's that way at all the rental agencies. nrd515, I like the Challenger too, but I don't think the Camaro is hideous (although I'm no fan of the interior). To each his own.

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
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