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

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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.

“These results certainly reinforce the exuberance and optimism that filled the air last week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.”

“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.