The conventional wisdom in the auto business is that winter weather was responsible for the unexpected auto sales dive in January in the U.S. While GM, Ford and Toyota all posted big sales drops, Chrysler, the comeback car company, reported U.S. sales of 127,183 units, an 8% increase compared with sales in January 2013 (117,731 units).
This was the Chrysler Group’s best January since 2008 when it was speeding towards bankruptcy. AutoData says the seasonally adjusted annual rate or SAAR is 15.24 million units, up slightly from 15.23 million units last January, but down from 15.4 million units in December. Sales for all brands, unadjusted for business days, decreased 3% from last January and a breathtaking -26% compared to December’s sales figures.
The Chrysler, Jeep, Ram Truck, and Fiat brands each posted year-over-year sales gains in January compared with the same month a year ago. Four Chrysler Group vehicles set sales records in January. The Jeep Compass, Jeep Patriot, Jeep Wrangler, and Chrysler 200 each posted their best January sales ever. Jeep brand’s +38% increase at 42,000 was the largest sales gain of any Chrysler Group brand during the month.
“The bad weather only seemed to affect our competitors’ stores as we had a great January with sales up 8% and achieved our 46th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases,” gloated Reid Bigland, head of U.S. Sales at the Fiat owned Chrysler Group. “In addition to a strong sales start to the year, last month we also reported 2013 full-year profits and unveiled the all-new Chrysler 200, our strongest entry yet in the mid-size sedan segment.”
Subaru (up 19.3% at 33,000), Nissan (up 10.4%, 81,000), and Kia (37,000, up 2%) saw sales improve. Several brands, including Toyota (down 9%, 129,000), Honda (down 4%, 81,000), and Volkswagen (down 19%, 23,000) experienced declines during January.
Offshore nameplates held five of the top ten selling vehicle models in January. In fourth place, the Toyota Camry regained its position as the best-selling car in the U.S. AutoInformed followers might remember that the Honda Accord, which fell to ninth place for the month, displaced it in January. Other models moving up included the Toyota Corolla (fifth place) and the Nissan Altima (sixth place). In seventh place, the Honda Civic rounded out the list of offshore nameplates on January’s top ten list.
