CBT News Anchor Joe Gumm reports on U.S. automotive sales totals for the month of February 2018 at dealerships around the U.S.
The seasonally adjusted, annualized sales rate (SAAR) for the month was 17 million, according to Jessica Caldwell (Director of Industry Analysis with Edmunds).
WINNERS
For our winners, we start off with Toyota again. Like January, a very successful month of February. The Japanese automaker sold more crossovers, SUVs, and pickups in February than ever before. The Toyota brand increased 4.4%. The Lexus luxury lineup increased 5.1%.
A big month for Volvo, up 35.1%. Porsche was up 20.5%. Land Rover increased 18.8%. Mitsubishi also had a jump of 18.8%. Cadillac saw an increase of 14%. Mazda jumped 12.7%. Audi rose 12.4%. Jeep was up 12.3%. VW saw a jump of 6%. BMW increased 4.2%. Subaru jumped 3.8%. Mercedes Benz improved 2.8%. Buick had a slight increase of 1.2% and Acura was slightly up, 1%.
LOSERS
Let’s take a look at the losers, starting with the big three. For FCA, Fiat saw a decline of 42.1%. Ram dropped 14.1%.
For Ford, the brand fell 6.1%. The automaker’s passenger car sales fell 12.1%, but the company’s SUV sales had a poor showing as well, falling 12.3%. The Lincoln luxury brand plunged 23.4%. GM’S flagship Chevrolet brand fell 8.8%, with its GMC brand declining 8%.
Other losers included Honda. The company’s brand fell 5.6%. The Accord fell 15.8%, with the Civic declining 4.5%. Nissan fell 4%. The company’s passenger cars plunged 15.1%, but sales of crossovers, SUVs, and pickups increased 5.6%. Once again, the Rogue crossover continued its hot streak, with an increase of 15%.
Genesis was named best car brand by Consumer Reports, but declined for February 13.8%. Hyundai didn’t do any better, falling 13%. Jaguar fell hard, 37.3%. Dodge declined 8.4% and Kia fell 4.7%.
