(FINAL) April 2015 U.S. LV Sales Thread: April Daily Sales Reach 13-Year High

April 2015 Light-Vehicle Sales Volume
WardsAuto forecast LV Sales:       1.47 million units
Actual April LV Sales:                  1.45 million units

April Light-Vehicle SAAR
WardsAuto Forecast LV SAAR:          16.76 million
Current Projected LV SAAR:            16.46 million

WardsAuto tracks light-vehicle (LV) deliveries throughout sales reporting day. Monthly year-over-year change represents the change in daily sales rate (DSR).

April had 26 selling days this year and in 2014, meaning DSR % change and year-over-year volume change comparisons will be the same this month. 

See below for automaker synopses - and related articles for more detailed reports. 

U.S. automakers sold 1.45 million light vehicles in April, a 4.9% year-over-year gain, that marked the industry's best April (on a daily sales basis) since 2002, and the highest-volume for the month since 2005 - despite falling slightly short of WardsAuto's forecast for the month.

GM led all automakers, accounting for 18.6% of all deliveries - GM's largest share since June.

Ford's 15% share made it the No.2 seller in April, followed by Toyota (14%) and FCA (13%).

Weaker than expected sales from Japanese automakers played a key role in the SAAR falling to 16.5 million units, after rising past 17 million, for just the third time since the recession, in March. 

April's results brought the market's year-to-date tally to 5.39 million, up 5.4% from like-2014.

Related Table
U.S. Light Vehicle Sales Summary table

UPDATE 2 PM ET: Honda sales were down vs year-ago for the second consecutive month, with deliveries falling 1.8% from same-month year-ago, making the Japanese automaker the only Top 7 seller to report a year-over-year decline. Honda YTD sales are outpacing year-ago by just 1.4%, the smallest margin of any of the Top 7 automakers.

Hyundai meanwhile reported record April sales - the sixth year in a row that the company has set a new benchmark for the month. Deliveries were up 2.9% from year-ago to just over 68,000 units - directly in line with WardsAuto's forecast.

Hyundai sister-company Kia was also in line with projections, with sales falling 0.7% from year-ago.  

UPDATE 1 PM ET: Nissan reported a 5.7% increase in sales compared with year-ago, delivering just under 110,000 LVs in April, lifting the automaker's tally for the first four months of the year to 477,476 units - a 4% improvement from same-period year-ago. 

BMW sales were up 9.6% over year-ago on 32,429 BMW and Mini brand deliveries. The increase was below WardsAuto's expectations as well as the automaker's own 11.8% year-over-year improvement for the first four months.

Subaru finished directly in line with projections, delivering just over 47,000 LVs - 17.9% improvement over April 2014. The company's YTD total of 178,522 is 17.1% above year-ago.

NOON ET: General Motors delivered 269,056 light vehicles in April, directly in line with WardsAuto's forecast for the month. GM's sales represented a 5.9% gain over same-month year-ago, slightly ahead of the automakers' 5.5% year-to-date improvement. At forecast levels, GM should account for over 18% of April LV sales.

Ford delivered nearly 218,000 light vehicles in April, up 6.4% from year-ago - the automaker's second-largest year-over-year gain in two years. Year to date, Ford is running 3.2% ahead of last year. 

FCA sales were up 6.3% in April, on 187,881 LV deliveries, lifting the company's YTD figures 6.1% over year-ago.

Like GM, both Ford and FCA sales were directly in line with WardsAuto's projections.

Toyota, however, came in 5% below WardsAuto's forecast, with 203,329 LV sales up just 1.8% over year-ago, considerably below the automaker's 8.1% YTD lead over like-2014.

Audi deliveries were up 7.5% in April, lagging its YTD gain of nearly 12%.