Winter Weather No Problem For January Car Sales

DETROIT (WWJ) - Car and truck sales are trending up about 13 percent over a weather-beaten January of 2014.

"It's a really good start to 2015," says LMC Automotive analyst Jeff Schuster.

General Motors is leading the domestics with an 18 percent sales gain.

"Consumers feel very good because more people are working, the U.S. economy is expanding and fuel prices are low," said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of Sales Operations. "Consumer and commercial demand for trucks and crossovers is really driving our business, and our move into the small crossover segment with the Chevrolet Trax and Buick Encore, and mid-size pickups with the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, was well-timed."

GM pickup sales were up 42 percent.  Ford analyst Erich Merkel says their 15 percent sales gain was fueled by strong sales of the the F-150 pickup.

"F-series sales volumes are having their best January sales performance since 2004."

About 18 percent of F-150 sales in January were of the new model pickup, that's starting to arrive in dealerships.

For Fiat-Chrysler, it was the Jeep brand leading the way to the best January in eight years.

"We kicked off 2015 with a 14 percent increase in sales and extended our year-over-year sales streak to 58-consecutive months," said Reid Bigland, Head of U.S. Sales. "In spite of some tough 2015 comparisons, we remain confident in our ability to post year-over-year sales increases on the back of strong retail demand for our products."

Fiat-Chrysler's Jeep brand posted a 23 percent sales increase, but all of the company's brands saw year over year gains. The Dodge Challenger saw its sales up 87 percent, for its best January ever.

Import brands also saw significant sales increases, lead by 24 percent at Subaru.   Toyota sales were up 16 percent, Nissan 15 percent and Honda 11 percent.

The strong sales growth continues a trend that started last summer, and shows no signs of letting up.

"This really could be the year we have six years in a row of continued automotive sales growth," says Larry Dominique, an analyst with TrueCar.

While gas prices are down significantly from last year, and most economic indicators are up, there is another big difference.  Last January's sales were impacted significantly by what came to be known as the Polar Vortex.

"Car sales were held back last January by the 'Polar Vortex,' which is only adding to the year-over-year growth numbers we're seeing this January," said Kelly Blue Book analyst Karl Brauer. "But with last month's sales numbers higher than we've seen since before the recession, there clearly is strong momentum in the industry. A number of factors, including low gas prices, stable home values and lots of available credit, are contributing to the sales pace. If those factors remain in place, new vehicle sales will continue to rise, though a big shift in one or more could quickly slow things down."

There was some rough weather at the end of the this January, but it didn't appear to have much of an impact.

"Our dealers, especially in the North East, they told us that weather hampered them on several days," said Fiat Chrysler spokesman Ralph Kisiel.  "But, as soon as they managed to clear their lots from snow, they were open for business."

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