What Pushed Import Sales to Solid Gain?

A trio of positive economic factors led to a more than a 15-percent year-over-year increase in new-vehicle sales for import automakers in January, according to the American International Automobile Dealers Association. 

Helping to push January sales for imports to a 15.7-percent hike were new-model launches, greater credit availability and more robust consumer confidence, the association noted. In fact, AIADA said the last time consumer confidence was this high was May.

Specifically, international brands moved 443,900 units in January, compared with 383,685 vehicles in the year-ago period. During December, they sold 629,699 vehicles.

The industry, in general, was quite robust in January, as well. Combined new-car sales for domestics and imports jumped 17.3 percent year-over-year (unadjusted for selling days).

Citing Autodata Corp. estimates, AIADA noted that the seasonally adjusted annualized rate for the overall industry was 12.62 million units. A year ago, the SAAR was 10.75 million units and during the fourth quarter, it hit 12.4 million.

“January’s strong numbers show that Americans are returning to the auto market,” stated Cody Lusk, president of AIADA.

“In 2011, as consumer demand continues to grow, international nameplate dealers will work to provide buyers with the safe, reliable, and high-performing vehicles they have come to expect,” Lusk added.

Looking at individual brands, AIADA stressed the strength of a couple Korean automakers that were among the brands showing the biggest improvement. Hyundai showed a 22-percent year-over-year sales hike, while Kia was up 25.6 percent.

Toyota also improved nicely (up 23.7 percent) from the year-ago period thanks largely to a 25.4-percent hike in Prius sales and a 29.5-percent lift in sales for its light trucks. Lexus, however, dipped 17.1 percent.

Sharing information provided by Autodata, AIADA offered the following chart of how specific import brands performed:

 

Continuing on, Imports commanded a 54.2-percent U.S. market share during January, compared with the 55.1-percent share they grabbed a month earlier. Asian brands took a 45.2-percent share, while market share for European brands was at 9 percent.

Domestics commanded 45.9 percent of the U.S. market.

Delving into the market’s top 10 overall best-selling units, imports were represented in five spots on the list, including Toyota’s Corolla/Matrix (No. 3) and Camry/Solar (No. 4), Nissan Altima (No. 5) and the Honda CR-V (No. 6). The Honda Civic placed eighth.

The top two spots went to domestics, with the Ford F-Series at No. 1 and the Chevrolet Silverado placing second.

The following is a chart provided by AIADA of the best-selling units: