by InvestorPlace Staff | February 1, 2012 3:55 pm
After a pretty stirring ride in 2011[1], automakers kept rolling strongly into 2012, with most major car companies reporting rising U.S. sales for the year’s first month. The big gainer among the U.S. companies was Fiat’s (PINK:FIATY[2]) Chrysler. The No. 3 of Detroit’s Big Three racked up 44% sales increase[3], selling 101,149 total vehicles in January, versus 70,118 in 2011. That handily outran analysts’ estimates of a 32% sales gain, according to Bloomberg. Chrysler had more good news on Wednesday, reporting its first full-year profit since 1997.
Nissan (PINK:NSANY[4]) also did better than expected, selling 79,313 vehicles, for a 10% increase over 2011. Bloomberg says analysts were predicting a 7.6% rise. General Motors (NYSE:GM[5]) posted a not-unexpected 6.1% sales decline, but even that beat analyst estimates of a 7.3% drop.
Ford
(NYSE:F[6]) was an outlier as far as falling short of estimates. It reported a 7.4% gain, putting 136,294 vehicles on the road in January. Bloomberg said the expectations were for a slightly larger, 7.9%, increase. Ford’s redesigned Focus is powering sales.
Volkswagen (PINK:VLKAY[7]), which battled GM for the No. 1 spot[8] in global auto sales for 2011, posted a Chrysler-beating 48% sales jump, moving 27,209 vehicles. It also said it’s adding 200 jobs at its Chattanooga, Tenn., assembly plant. On Monday, Chrysler announced that it’s increasing employment[9] at its Belvidere, Ill., plant by 1,600 workers to build the new compact Dodge Dart.
Not to be left out, Toyota (NYSE:TM[10]) also reported a healthy January, with sales up 7.5%, thanks to strong demand for the redesigned Camry. The Japanese carmaker’s comeback in 2012 could make the race for No. 1 in global sales even tighter this year.
Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/02/carmakers-are-cruising-on-hot-january-sales/
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