January Auto Sales Suggest the Good Times Will Keep Rolling in 2013, says Edmunds.com

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--()--Edmunds.com, the premier resource for automotive information, forecasts that 1,045,587 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in January for an estimated Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 15.3 million light vehicles. The projected sales will be a 22.8 percent decrease from December but a 14.5 percent increase from January 2012.

“January’s numbers show that vehicle sales stayed strong, even after the holiday ads faded away and the replacement sales following Hurricane Sandy started to dry up,” says Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. “These results certainly reinforce the exuberance and optimism that filled the air last week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.”

SALES VOLUME FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER

Sales Volume   Jan-13 Forecast   Jan-12   Dec-12   Change from Jan 2012*   Change from Dec 2012*
GM   195,262   167,962   245,733   16.3%   -20.5%
Ford 164,317 136,293 212,902 20.6% -22.8%
Toyota 147,008 124,540 194,143 18.0% -24.3%
Chrysler Group 121,366 101,150 152,367 20.0% -20.3%
Honda 97,416 83,009 132,774 17.4% -26.6%
Nissan 82,235 79,313 99,290 3.7% -17.2%
Industry 1,045,587 912,954 1,355,218 14.5% -22.8%

*NOTE: January 2013 had 25 selling days, January 2012 had 24 and December 2012 had 26.

Edmunds.com estimates that retail SAAR will come in at 12.4 million vehicles in January, with fleet transactions accounting for 19.0 percent of total sales. An estimated 3.21 million used cars will be sold in January, for a SAAR of 40.2 million (compared to 2.70 million – or a SAAR of 39.5 million – used car sales in December).

AUTOMAKER PERFORMANCE

In terms of market share, most of the Big Six automakers should expect to be in a better place than they were just a year ago. The only exception is Nissan, whose January share is expected to drop 0.8 percentage points year over year. But it’s not all gloom and doom for Nissan: its share is projected to improve 0.6 points over December. Meanwhile, its fellow Japanese competitors Honda and Toyota are expected to see their shares slide 0.5 and 0.2 percentage points, respectively, this month.

MARKET SHARE FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER

       

Change from

  Change from
Market Share Jan-13 Forecast Jan-12 Dec-12 January 2012 December 2012
                (Percentage pts.)   (Percentage pts.)
GM 18.7% 18.4% 18.1% 0.3% 0.6%
Ford 15.7% 14.9% 15.7% 0.8% 0.0%
Toyota 14.1% 13.6% 14.3% 0.4% -0.2%
Chrysler Group 11.6% 11.1% 11.2% 0.5% 0.4%
Honda 9.3% 9.1% 9.8% 0.2% -0.5%
Nissan 7.9% 8.7% 7.3% -0.8% 0.6%

More insight into recent auto industry trends can be found in Edmunds.com’s Industry Center at http://www.edmunds.com/industry-center/.

About Edmunds.com, Inc.

At Edmunds.com, we’re committed to helping people find the car that meets their every need. Almost 18 million visitors use our research, shopping and buying tools every month to make an easy and informed decision on their next new or used car. Whether you’re at the dealership or on the go, we’re always by your side with our five-star Edmunds.com iPhone and iPad apps and our Edmunds.com Android App. Our comprehensive car reviews, shopping tips, photos, videos and feature stories offer a friendly and authentic approach to the automotive world. We’re based in Santa Monica, Calif., but you can connect with us from anywhere by following @Edmunds on Twitter or by becoming a fan of Edmunds.com on Facebook.

Contacts

Edmunds.com Corporate Communications
Jeannine Fallon/Aaron Lewis/Stephanie Mar
Media Hotline: 310-309-4900
pr@edmunds.com
www.Edmunds.com

Release Summary

Good news for the economy! Car sales continue to be strong even though holiday shopping is over and Hurricane Sandy victims have probably finished replacing their vehicles.

Contacts

Edmunds.com Corporate Communications
Jeannine Fallon/Aaron Lewis/Stephanie Mar
Media Hotline: 310-309-4900
pr@edmunds.com
www.Edmunds.com