U.S. Sales: This Was A VERY Strong January

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: February 1st, 2013

u s sales this was a very strong january

The U.S. new car market was up strongly in January. GM and Ford surprised analysts with double digit sales rates. Toyota, up 26.6 percent also surprised.

GM is up 16 percent on very strong sales of the Equinox and its Silverado and Sierra pickups.

Ford prints a 22 percent increase, powered by the Fusion. Lincoln sales are down 18 percent while customers wait for the MKZ to arrive in quantity at their dealers.

Chrysler was up 16 percent, but jaded analysts expected more.

Detroit OEMs and analysts expect the SAAR to be in the mid 15 million range

Final table ( data courtesy Automotive News)

January U.S. New Auto Sales

AutomakerJan. 2013Jan. 2012Pct. chng.1 month

20131 month

2012Pct. chng.BMW Group20,23319,7712%20,23319,7712% BMW division16,51316,4051%16,51316,4051% Mini3,6823,33410%3,6823,33410% Rolls-Royce383219%383219%BMW Group20,23319,7712%20,23319,7712%Chrysler Group117,731101,14916%117,731101,14916% Chrysler Division20,69617,60418%20,69617,60418% Dodge43,22731,45437%43,22731,45437% Dodge/Ram64,21449,92429%64,21449,92429% Fiat2,5031,91131%2,5031,91131% Jeep30,31831,710–4%30,31831,710–4% Ram20,98718,47014%20,98718,47014%Chrysler Group117,731101,14916%117,731101,14916%Daimler AG24,05921,72511%24,05921,72511% Maybach–4–100%–4–100% Mercedes-Benz23,57821,22511%23,57821,22511% Smart USA481496–3%481496–3%Daimler AG24,05921,72511%24,05921,72511%Ford Motor Co.165,863136,29422%165,863136,29422% Ford division161,672131,17323%161,672131,17323% Lincoln4,1915,121–18%4,1915,121–18%Ford165,863136,29422%165,863136,29422%General Motors194,699167,96216%194,699167,96216% Buick13,46310,20832%13,46310,20832% Cadillac13,1168,92447%13,1168,92447% Chevrolet137,304123,86411%137,304123,86411% GMC30,81624,96623%30,81624,96623%General Motors194,699167,96216%194,699167,96216%Honda (American)93,62683,00913%93,62683,00913% Acura9,4898,38113%9,4898,38113% Honda Division84,13774,62813%84,13774,62813%Honda93,62683,00913%93,62683,00913%Hyundai Group80,01578,2112%80,01578,2112% Hyundai division43,71342,6942%43,71342,6942% Kia36,30235,5172%36,30235,5172%Hyundai Group80,01578,2112%80,01578,2112%Jaguar Land Rover5,2294,19025%5,2294,19025% Jaguar1,0299855%1,0299855% Land Rover4,2003,20531%4,2003,20531%Jaguar Land Rover5,2294,19025%5,2294,19025%Maserati17215412%17215412%Maserati17215412%17215412%Mazda21,31923,996–11%21,31923,996–11%Mazda21,31923,996–11%21,31923,996–11%Mitsubishi4,6594,711–1%4,6594,711–1%Mitsubishi4,6594,711–1%4,6594,711–1%Nissan80,91979,3132%80,91979,3132% Infiniti7,1266,7965%7,1266,7965% Nissan Division73,79372,5172%73,79372,5172%Nissan80,91979,3132%80,91979,3132%Subaru27,66322,80721%27,66322,80721%Subaru27,66322,80721%27,66322,80721%Suzuki1,4861,505–1%1,4861,505–1%Suzuki1,4861,505–1%1,4861,505–1%Toyota157,725124,54027%157,725124,54027% Lexus16,21112,27432%16,21112,27432% Scion4,8933,53538%4,8933,53538% Toyota division136,621108,73126%136,621108,73126% Toyota/Scion141,514112,26626%141,514112,26626%Toyota157,725124,54027%157,725124,54027%Volkswagen42,66639,2739%42,66639,2739% Audi10,0569,3548%10,0569,3548% Bentley18811859%18811859% Lamborghini46437%46437% Porsche3,3582,55032%3,3582,55032% VW division29,01827,2087%29,01827,2087%Volkswagen42,66639,2739%42,66639,2739%Volvo Cars NA4,8754,4619%4,8754,4619%Volvo Cars NA4,8754,4619%4,8754,4619% Other (estimate)2532463%2532463%TOTAL1,043,192913,31714%1,043,192913,31714%

#AmericaInJanuary2013 #BertelSchmitt #Sales

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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3 of 51 comments

Tstag on Feb 03, 2013

Jaguar's not in trouble at all. Sales are climbing and they have plenty of product in development. Plus Land Rover is booming and is about to double the size of its range. At some point Land Rover has to make more regular passenger cars and in Jag has the right brand to do it. Once they merge their dealer network Jag will be able to feed off Land Rovers success much more. The future is very bright for both brands they just need to keep going with their current plan. Lincoln by contrast is screwed

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Skor on Feb 03, 2013

Economic recovery? Or did it it take this long for the insurance companies to cut the checks for the quarter million cars that were washed into the Atlantic by Hurricane Sandy?

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- Lorenzo on Feb 04, 2013
  
  Sandy was probably a factor. A lot of those cars are going to be salting (in more ways than one) used car lots in the northeast and beyond, adding to road salt as a reason to visit a new car dealer. I wonder how much of the sales increase was from the northeast and road salt belt. A bigger impact is the large increase in average age of cars on the road. In 2008-2009, you could say "well, I'll just keep the old cow running a couple more years - fixing it up is cheaper than buying new." Well, the couple years are up, a lot of those cars weren't fixed up but had deferred maintenance, and putting $1500 into a car worth $1500 doesn't compute, especially when another $1500 may be needed at any time. A lot of people may have just concluded it's time to move the fuzzy dice to another rear view mirror, with cash on the hood deals on last year's models and low interest rates available now. As others mentioned elsewhere, the sales aren't all 2013 models, but whatever's available on the lot.
  
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