U.S. Car Sales Jump 14%

Sales of light passenger vehicles in the U.S. zoomed to 1.15 million last month from 1.01 million in January 2014, Autodata Corp. reports.

The annualized selling rate for the month rose to 16.7 million from 15.3 million a year ago.

Volume climbed 16% to 522,900 vehicles for traditional domestics, 13% to 525,900 for Asian brands and 7% to 102,400 for European makes.

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler gained 18% to 202,800 units, 16% to 177,400 units and 14% to 141,700 units, respectively. Light-duty trucks, which include crossover vehicles, expanded to 54% of the overall American market from 51% in January 2014.

Japanese brands led growth for Asian makes in January. Those posting double-digit growth included Toyota (+16% to 169,200 units), Honda (+12% to 102,200), Nissan (+15% to 104,100), Subaru (+24% to 40,800) and Mitsubishi (+33% to 6,500). South Korea's Hyundai and Kia brands advanced 1% to 44,500 units and 4% to 38,300, respectively.

Sales of European-brand vehicles in the U.S. last month were buoyed by Mercedes-Benz (+9% to a January record 26,100) and Audi (+14% to 11,500). Demand stalled at 22,500 units for segment leader Volkswagen. Sales for third-place BMW grew 4% to 19,000 vehicles.