McLEAN, Va., Jan. 11 – The sales momentum of new cars and light trucks established last year is likely to continue in 2013, predicts Paul Taylor, NADA chief economist.
Taylor expects more than 15.4 million new vehicles will be purchased or leased in the United States this year, an increase of 1 million vehicles over 2012. Last year, 14.4 million new vehicles were sold. (Read more)
January Sales Recap
The U.S. auto industry sold just more than 1 million units in the month of January. This was an increase of 14.3% from January 2012. The SAAR* for the month was an impressive 15.2 million units. Indications are that the retail SAAR for the month was in the high 12 million range (another encouraging sign).
January Highlights
• The Detroit Three captured 45.7% of industry market volume in January, up 1.5 points from a year ago.
• Among the Detroit Three, Ford was the market share gainer for the month, up 0.9 points for a share of 15.7%.
• The introduction of the new Ford Fusion and Escape seemed to fuel Ford’s market share gains. Fusion sales were up 64% and Escape's were up 15%.
• Alternative Fuel vehicle sales for the month were 37,589 units.
• 1,064 electric vehicles were sold, hybrid sales were 34,173 units and plug-in hybrids were 2,352 units.
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Need more detail? View NADA's
Monthly Sales Recap reports, NADA's
Dealership Financial Profiles and
Paul Taylor's Monthly Economic Update.
| * SAAR (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate) is a term used in the industry to depict the selling rate of vehicles for a particular month. For example, a SAAR rate of 13 million for a particular month indicates that the industry was on pace to sell 13 million vehicles on an annual basis. |