GM, Ford, Toyota Report Lower Jan. U.S. Sales; Chrysler Up

(RTTNews) - General Motors Co. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F) and Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) reported lower U.S. vehicle sales for the month of January, hurt mainly by harsh winter weather in several regions of the country. Chrysler Group LLC, however, maintained its growth momentum with an 8% rise in U.S. vehicles sales for the month.

GM, the largest U.S. automaker, said that its January U.S. sales fell 11.9% to 171,486 vehicles from 194,699 vehicles in the same month last year.

There were 25 selling days for January 2014, the same as last year.

Retail sales were down 10% for the month, while fleet sales dropped 18% due to a planned reduction in rental vehicle sales.

All of GM's four brands reported sales declines. Chevrolet sales dropped 13.3% to 119,089 units, while GMC sales fell 10% to 27,733 units, Cardillac sales slipped 13.2% to 11,386 units and Buick sales declined 1.4% to 13,278 units.

"Historically, January is the industry's lowest sales month of the year. Extreme winter weather in the South, Midwest and Northeast this January further depressed GM and industry sales," GM noted.

The automaker said it expects seasonally adjusted annual selling rate for light vehicles to be an estimated 15.3 million units, down from 15.6 million in December.

GM expects light vehicle sales for 2014 to be in a range of 16 million to 16.5 million units, which would be the industry's best year since 2007, when 16.2 million vehicles were sold.

Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford said it sold 154,644 vehicles in the U.S. in January, down 7.1% from 166,501 vehicles sold in the same month last year. For December, Ford had reported a 1.8% rise in U.S. vehicles sales.

Ford's car sales dropped 13.4% year-over-year to 48,651 units in January, while truck sales for the month declined 2.2% to 57,308 units and utility vehicle sales fell 5.8% to 48,685 units.

Ford's January U.S. retail sales were down 5%, while fleet sales were down 14%.

"Given the difficult weather in our largest sales regions, we are fortunate to have held in at retail as well as we did," said John Felice, Ford vice president, U.S. marketing, sales and service. "In areas where the weather was good, such as in the West, sales were up. The poor weather also had an impact on the timing of some of our fleet deliveries. A bright spot is Lincoln, which had its strongest sales in four years."

Sales of Ford's F-Series truck, America's best-selling truck for 37 straight years and the country's best-selling vehicle for 32 consecutive years, fell 0.7% to 46,536 units in January, its first decline in 30 months.

Ford was less ravaged by the recession than most of its peers. The company also did not have to restructure with federal assistance. The automaker has reported a profit for each of its last eighteen quarters. The company has also reinstated its quarterly stock dividend.

Last week, Ford reported a 90% jump in fourth quarter profit, reflecting strong sales in North America and Asia. Results also benefited from a one-time tax gain. The company also maintained its earnings outlook for fiscal 2014.

Chrysler Group LLC, is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Italian automaker Fiat S.p.A. (FIATY), said its U.S. vehicle sales for January increased 8% to 127,183 units from 117,731 units in the prior year month.. This marks the 46th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains for Chrysler. The company also recorded the best January sales since 2008.

Chrysler's total car sales for January fell 21% to 34,101 units, while total truck sales jumped 25% to 93,082 units.

Chrysler, which was once part of German automotive company Daimler AG, emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization in June 2009 and was bought by Italian automaker Fiat in a U.S. government-brokered deal. Fiat completed the 100% acquisition on January 21, 2014.

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., a unit of Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), said its January sales fell 7.2% year-over-year to 146,365 vehicles.

"January was off to a solid start, but the weather condition slowed industry sales in key markets late in the month," said Bill Fay, Toyota division group vice president and general manager. "For Toyota, we're pleased with our retail sales, strong truck results and expect to see growth back in February."

Among other automakers reporting U.S. sales Monday, Nissan North America Inc., a unit of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (NSANY.PK), said its January sales rose 11.8% to 90,470 vehicles from 80,919 vehicles in the same month last year. Nissan division sales were up 10.4%, Infiniti division sales were up 26.3%.

GM shares are currently trading at $35.21, down 87 cents or 2.41%, while Ford shares are currently trading at $14.48, down 48 cents or 3.21%.