February Car Sales in U.S. Rise 7%

A 13% jump in demand for light trucks pushed passenger vehicle sales in the U.S. to 1.34 million units in February from 1.26 million a year ago, according to Autodata Corp. The annualized sales pace rose to 17.5 million units from 16.4 million in February 2015.

Domestic and Asian brands gained 9% to 626,300 units and 6% to 612,000 vehicles, respectively, in February. European makes fell 3% to 105,900 sales, dragged down by double-digit declines for Volkswagen and BMW.

Demand for trucks continues to drive the American market. Autodata reports that truck sales climbed 13% to 771,800 units in February, capturing 57.5% of the overall market. Car sales were flat at 572,400 units.

Among domestic sellers, General Motors’ sales slipped 2% to 227,800 vehicles, Ford climbed 20% to 216,000 and Chrysler grew 12% to 179,800 last month.

All Asian brands posted gains in February except for Mazda, whose sales dropped 16% to 21,500 units. Sales were up for Toyota (+4% to 188,000 vehicles), Honda (+13% to 119,000), Nissan (+11% to 130,900), Hyundai (+1% to 53,000), Kia (+13% to 49,700) and Subaru (+2% to 42,000).

Results for European brands were mixed last month. Two of the four largest-volume sellers lost ground, as sales plunged 11% to 22,500 vehicles at BMW and 13% to 22,300 at Volkswagen. Sales were virtually flat for Mercedes-Benz at 25,200 units. Audi sales improved 2% to 11,700 units.

Demand also rose for Europe’s secondary brands in the U.S. They include Land Rover (+31% to 6,400 vehicles), Volvo (+31% to 5,300), Porsche (+11% to 3,600) and Jaguar (+7% to 1,500). February sales fell for Mini (-23% to 2,800 units) and Fiat (-9% to 3,000).