February Auto Sales: Hot and Not

Automakers reported February U.S. sales throughout the morning Monday, and there were winners and losers. Chrysler and Nissan posted solid year-over-year gains, while other makers put up lower numbers. The abnormally nasty winter weather did not get as much blame in February as it did in January.

Based on analysts’ estimates, February’s seasonally adjusted annual sales rate for 2014 stands at 15.6 million units. The consensus U.S. seasonally adjusted annual rate calls for 12.3 million domestic sales.

Chrysler’s year-over-year sales rose 11% to 154,866 units, the company’s best February sales level since 2007. Its Chrysler, Jeep, Ram Truck and Fiat brands all posted year-over-year gains in the February. The Jeep brand posted a sales gain of 47% in February and the Ram brand posted a gain of 28%. Chrysler projected a seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales from all manufacturers at 15.8 million units for 2014, up from last month’s projection of 15.6 million. The company ended the month with 85 days supply of inventory, up from 79 days of supply at the end of January.

Ford Motor Co.’s (NYSE: F) U.S. sales fell 6% year-over-year in February to 183,947 Ford and Lincoln vehicles, compared with February 2013 sales of 195,822. Sales were down for all types of vehicles, with car sales off 13.6%, utility vehicle sales off 4.4% and truck sales down 0.2%. Fleet sales fell 10% in February due to weather-related delays in fleet orders. Ford said that it expects the fleet sales to be made up in March.

U.S. sales for General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) fell 1% year-over-year in February to 222,104 vehicles, compared with last February’s sales total of 224,314 vehicles. GM sales fell nearly 12% in January, so February’s drop is a big improvement. The company noted that its buyer incentives increased “slightly” in February. That is one way of looking at it, but there is another. Based on February sales, GM estimates that the full-year seasonally adjusted annual rate of U.S. sales for all carmakers will total 15.4 million light vehicles sold, up from a January rate of 15.3 million. GM estimates total U.S. sales from all carmakers in 2014 to total 16.0 million to 16.5 million units, the best year since 2007.

Sales at Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) for the month totaled 159,284 units, down 4.3% compared with February 2013. A company executive said, “February auto sales emerged from a chill in the second half of the month, poising the industry for a strong March. For Toyota, strong truck sales were a highlight this month, with RAV4 and Highlander posting best-ever February results.”

Volkswagen sold 27,112 units in the United States in February. That is a drop of 13.8% year-over-year, on top of a 19% drop in January sales. Year-to-date VW sales are down 16.3%.

Nissan’s February sales rose 15.8%% to 115,360 units, a record for the month of February. Sales of the company’s redesigned Rogue crossover rose 72.6% to 17,197 units year-over-year.