News

Highest January SAAR Since 2007 According to Cars.com; 2014 Full-Year Forecast is 16.5 Million Units

CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/-- Cars.com, the leading online resource for buying and selling new and used cars, announced today that new-vehicle sales are expected to improve 0.3 percent year-over-year in January to a total of 1.045 million units and an estimated 15.74 million at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR).

Key Highlights for January 2014 Sales Forecast:

  • For January 2014, new light vehicle sales in the U.S. (including fleet) are expected to be 1,045,628 units, up 0.3 percent from January 2013 and down 22.9 percent from December 2013.
  • The January 2014 forecast translates into a Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate ("SAAR") of 15.7 million new car sales, up 2.1 percent from December 2013 and up 3.3 percent over January 2013.
  • Retail sales are expected to account for 83% of all sales in January 2014, virtually unchanged year-over-year from January 2013.

"Industry sales started the year out on a relatively positive note and would have been even better if it wasn't for the inclement weather negatively impacting car shopping in several major markets" said Jesse Toprak, Chief Analyst for Cars.com. "We expect the total sales to grow by nearly 900,000 units (5.7%) in 2014, fueled by new products, an improved macro-economic landscape, and attractive lease and finance specials."

Forecasts for the top eight manufacturers for January 2014:

Unit Sales

Manufacturer

January 2014

Sales Forecast

YoY

MoM

Chrysler Group

125,412

6.5%

-22.1%

Ford

158,768

-4.3%

-26.7%

GM

191,172

-1.8%

-16.9%

Honda

97,878

4.5%

-27.6%

Hyundai/Kia

82,986

3.7%

-14.1%

Nissan

84,611

4.6%

-22.9%

Toyota

152,604

-3.2%

-20.0%

Volkswagen

39,765

1.8%

-22.1%

Industry Total

1,045,628

0.3%

-22.9%

Market Share

Manufacturer

Jan-14 Forecast

Dec-13

Jan-13

Chrysler Group

12.0%

11.9%

11.3%

Ford

15.2%

16.0%

15.9%

GM

18.3%

17.0%

18.7%

Honda

9.4%

10.0%

9.0%

Hyundai/Kia

7.9%

7.1%

7.7%

Nissan

8.1%

8.1%

7.8%

Toyota

14.6%

14.1%

15.1%

Volkswagen

3.8%

3.8%

3.7%

Cars.com shares industry news, insights and dealership best practices to help dealers and manufacturers better understand the automotive landscape, automotive shopping trends and new consumer behavior. For more information, visit http://dealeradvantage.cars.com/.

ABOUT CARS.COM
Cars.com is an award-winning online destination for car shoppers that offers information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car. Cars.com offers thousands of new and used vehicle listings, consumer reviews, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and many other tools. Cars.com puts millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they need to make confident buying decisions. Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including A.H. Belo (NYSE: AHC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).

SOURCE Cars.com

For further information: Thomas Muellner, tmuellner@cars.com, pr@cars.com, 312-601-5635