Mid-January Car Sales Climb 18%
Domestic auto sales rebounded from the industry’s first-of-the-year slump as consumer incentive programs helped boost mid-January sales 18.1% over the year-ago level, the seven U.S. auto manufacturers reported Thursday.
The domestic car makers said they sold a total of 199,246 units in the Jan. 11-20 period, compared to 168,668 sold in the comparable 1985 period.
On a daily selling rate basis, the auto makers sold an average of 24,906 cars a day in the period’s eight official selling days, the highest for mid-January since 1973, when the auto makers sold an average of 27,913 cars a day. Percentage changes are figured from the daily selling rate.
Industry analysts attributed the strong sales to incentive programs that most of the domestic manufacturers began offering late last month in an effort spur lagging sales and reduce bulging inventories.
John Hammond of Data Resources said the decline in early January was a result of manufacturers “clearing the pipeline at the end of the year and pulling sales from the beginning of the year.”
He added, however, that mid-January sales were aided by the earlier lull and that sales should settle into a slightly slower pace through February, when they are expected to fall due to the scheduled expiration of the incentives.
Of the Big Three auto makers, Ford, which recently introduced its new Taurus and Sable models, posted the biggest increase for the period. The company said it sold 49,616 new cars, up 21% from last year’s 41,012. General Motors said it sold 117,014 units, an increase of 18.2% over the 99,016 that it sold in the comparable period last year, and Chrysler reported sales of 24,577, up 13.2% over 1985’s level of 21,702.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, new cars sold at an annual rate of 9.9 million, compared to 8.4 million last year. The annual rate is a calculation of the number of cars that would be sold if a period’s sales pace were to continue for a full year.
Auto Sales
Jan. 11-20 Jan. 11-20 % 10-Day 1986 1985 change GM 117,014 99,016 +18.2 Ford 49,616 41,012 +21.0 Chrysler 24,577 21,702 +13.2 AMC* 1,550 3,125 -50.4 VW U.S. 1,637 1,313 +24.7 Honda U.S. 2,843 2,500 +13.7 Nissan U.S. 2,009 -- -- TOTAL 199,246 168,668 +18.1
*Estimate
