U.S. Light Vehicle Sales decrease to 16.6 million annual rate in January

Based on a WardsAuto estimate, light vehicle sales were at a 16.55 million SAAR in January. That is up 8.9% from January 2013, and down 1.5% from the 16.80 million annual sales rate last month.  The comparison to January 2014 was easy (sales were impacted by the severe weather last year).

From John Sousanis at Wards Auto: January 2015 U.S. LV Sales Thread: Trucks Spur Strong January Sales

Led by strong gains in truck sales, U.S. automakers sold 1.149 million light vehicles in January, a 9.3% increase in daily sales (over 26 days) compared with year-ago (25 days). The resultant seasonally adjusted annual rate - roughly 16.55 million - was the industry's highest January SAAR since 2006.

General Motors led all automakers, accounting for 17.7% of the month's LV sales, followed by Ford (15.2%) and Toyota (14.8%).

Subaru recorded the largest year-over-year growth with a 28.3% increase in daily sales, while Volvo and Volkswagen registered industry-worst 3.8% DSR declines.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the historical light vehicle sales from the BEA (blue) and an estimate for January (red, light vehicle sales of 16.55 million SAAR from WardsAuto).

This was at the consensus forecast of 16.6 million SAAR (seasonally adjusted annual rate).

The second graph shows light vehicle sales since the BEA started keeping data in 1967.

Note: dashed line is current estimated sales rate.

This was another strong month for vehicle sales - the ninth consecutive month with a sales rate over 16 million.