February Car Sales Struggle to Break the Cold Winter Ice
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SANTA MONICA, CA--Feb. 27, 2014: The polar vortex that's plagued the country this winter continued to limit shoppers from buying new cars in February, reports Edmunds.com, the premier destination for car shopping. Edmunds.com forecasts that 1,201,445 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in February for an estimated Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 15.5 million. The projected sales will be an 18.9 percent increase from January, and a 0.8 percent increase from February 2013.
"When the weather doesn't behave, it has a negative impact on car shoppers who are looking for an easy and smooth process at the dealership, so that's why sales will be weak for a second month in a row," says Edmunds.com Sr. Analyst Jessica Caldwell. "But as the weather improves - a lot like we saw this past week - dealerships will be filled with eager shoppers. The strength of pent-up demand promises to keep sales on the right path as spring approaches."
SALES VOLUME FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER
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SALES VOLUME FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER | |||||
|
Sales Volume |
Feb-14 Forecast |
Feb-13 |
Jan-14 |
Change from Feb 2013* |
Change from Jan 2014* |
|
GM |
212,232 |
224,314 |
171,486 |
-5.4% |
23.8% |
|
Ford |
185,604 |
195,310 |
153,494 |
-5.0% |
20.9% |
|
Toyota |
162,446 |
166,377 |
146,365 |
-2.4% |
11.0% |
|
Chrysler Group |
155,106 |
139,014 |
127,183 |
11.6% |
22.0% |
|
Nissan |
115,856 |
99,636 |
90,470 |
16.3% |
28.1% |
|
Honda |
106,530 |
107,987 |
91,631 |
-1.3% |
16.3% |
|
Hyundai/Kia |
95,725 |
93,816 |
81,016 |
2.0% |
18.2% |
|
VW/Audi |
37,036 |
42,333 |
33,595 |
-12.5% |
10.2% |
|
Industry |
1,201,445 |
1,191,904 |
1,010,080 |
0.8% |
18.9% |
|
*NOTE: February 2014 had 24 selling days, February 2013 had 24 and January 2014 had 25. | |||||
Edmunds.com estimates that retail SAAR will come in at 12.5 million vehicles in February, with fleet transactions accounting for 19.7 percent of total sales. An estimated 3.11 million used cars will be sold in February, for a SAAR of 34.5 million (compared to 2.91 million – or a SAAR of 35.3 million – used car sales in January).
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MARKET SHARE FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER | |||||
|
Market Share |
Feb-14 Forecast |
Feb-13 |
Jan-14 |
Change from February 2013 (Percentage pts.) |
Change from January 2014 (Percentage pts.) |
|
GM |
17.7% |
18.8% |
17.0% |
-1.2% |
0.7% |
|
Ford |
15.4% |
16.4% |
15.2% |
-0.9% |
0.3% |
|
Toyota |
13.5% |
14.0% |
14.5% |
-0.4% |
-1.0% |
|
Chrysler Group |
12.9% |
11.7% |
12.6% |
1.2% |
0.3% |
|
Nissan |
9.6% |
8.4% |
9.0% |
1.3% |
0.7% |
|
Honda |
8.9% |
9.1% |
9.1% |
-0.2% |
-0.2% |
|
Hyundai/Kia |
8.0% |
7.9% |
8.0% |
0.1% |
-0.1% |
|
VW/Audi |
3.1% |
3.6% |
3.3% |
-0.5% |
-0.2% |
*NOTE: February 2014 had 24 selling days, February 2013 had 24 and January 2014 had 25.