February 2012 New Car Sales Expected to Be Highest in Nearly Four Years
Press release from the issuing company
Sunday, February 26th, 2012
TrueCar.com, the authority on new car pricing, trends and forecasting, today released its February 2012 sales and incentives forecast. The forecast shows the following:
- For February 2012, new light vehicle sales in the U.S. (including fleet) is expected to be 1,088,321 units, up 9.6 percent from February 2011 and up 19.2 percent from January 2012 (on an unadjusted basis)
- The February 2012 forecast translates into a Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate (SAAR) of 14.3 million new car sales, up from 13.3 million in February 2011 and up from 14.2 million in January 2012
- Retail sales are up 5.6 percent compared to February 2011 and up 13.4 percent from January 2012
- Fleet and rental sales are expected to make up 21.5 percent of total industry sales in February 2012
- The industry average incentive spending per unit will be approximately $2,468 in February 2012, which represents a decrease of 4.2 percent from February 2011 and up 0.6 percent from January 2012
- Used car sales* are estimated to be 2,099,298, up 16.5 percent from February 2011 and down 3.1 percent from January 2012. The ratio of new to used is estimated to be 1:2 for February 2012
"The signs for 2012 point to a great period of recovery for automakers as the industry looks at continued growth through the year, " said Jesse Toprak, Vice President of Industry Trends and Insights for TrueCar.com. "We are upgrading our 2012 forecast to 14.0 million units based on improving consumer demand, better credit availability, and dozens of compelling new products due to arrive at the dealerships this year. The correlation between the stock market and new vehicle sales proved to be extremely strong once again with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and new vehicle SAAR reaching their highest levels since May 2008 in February."
Forecasts for the top eight manufacturers for February 2012:
|
Unit Sales |
|||
|
Manufacturer |
February 2012 Forecast |
% Change vs. January 2012 |
% Change vs. February 2011 |
|
Chrysler |
121,195 |
19.8% |
27.4% |
|
Ford |
178,270 |
30.8% |
14.1% |
|
GM |
194,435 |
15.8% |
-6.1% |
|
Honda |
102,668 |
23.7% |
4.7% |
|
Hyundai/Kia |
89,505 |
14.4% |
17.2% |
|
Nissan |
96,096 |
21.2% |
4.0% |
|
Toyota |
149,466 |
20.0% |
5.4% |
|
Volkswagen |
40,021 |
9.5% |
37.0% |
|
Industry |
1,088,321 |
19.2% |
9.6% |
|
Market Share |
|||
|
Manufacturer |
February 2012 Forecast |
January 2012 |
February 2011 |
|
Chrysler |
11.1% |
11.1% |
9.6% |
|
Ford |
16.4% |
14.9% |
15.7% |
|
GM |
17.9% |
18.4% |
20.8% |
|
Honda |
9.4% |
9.1% |
9.9% |
|
Hyundai/Kia |
8.2% |
8.6% |
7.7% |
|
Nissan |
8.8% |
8.7% |
9.3% |
|
Toyota |
13.7% |
13.6% |
14.3% |
|
Volkswagen |
3.7% |
4.0% |
2.9% |
|
Incentive Spending |
||||
|
Manufacturer |
February 2012 Incentives |
% Change vs. January 2012 |
% Change vs. February 2011 |
Total Spending |
|
Chrysler |
$3,251 |
2.9% |
6.5% |
$394,041,689 |
|
Ford |
$2,935 |
1.7% |
15.5% |
$523,163,600 |
|
GM |
$3,012 |
-1.9% |
-19.3% |
$585,620,672 |
|
Honda |
$2,009 |
-5.5% |
1.5% |
$206,242,716 |
|
Hyundai/Kia |
$937 |
4.6% |
-26.4% |
$83,839,234 |
|
Nissan |
$2,831 |
2.4% |
4.6% |
$272,006,826 |
|
Toyota |
$1,789 |
4.2% |
-10.5% |
$267,455,768 |
|
Volkswagen |
$2,173 |
0.1% |
6.3% |
$86,952,629 |
|
Industry |
$2,468 |
0.6% |
-4.2% |
$2,685,940,745 |
"Consumer interest at TrueCar.com for fuel-efficient models is up 15 percent this month compared to last year, indicating a shift in shopping preferences as gas prices have increased, said Kristen Andersson, Senior Analyst at TrueCar.com. "We expect to see 20 percent increases year-over-year for most hybrid models as well as gas-engine smaller vehicles such as the Ford Focus and Honda Civic."
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