August Sales Thread (FINAL): SAAR Hits 16 Million

August 2013 Light Vehicle Sales Volume:
WardsAuto forecast LV Sales:   1.465 million units
Actual August LV sales:             1.497 million units
Volume differential - 32,352, 2.2%.

August 2013 Light Vehicle SAAR:
WardsAuto forecast:            15.68 million
Current Projected :              16.02 million
SAAR differential - 2.2%

WardsAuto tracks light vehicle (LV) sales throughout the day. Year-over-year change represents the change in daily sales rate (DSR). August had 28 selling days this year and 27 selling days in 2012. July 2013 had 25 selling days.

Company results appear in the timeline below.

With fleet sales coming in slightly stronger than some OEMs had anticipated, and retail sales charging forward, U.S. auto makers sold almost 1.5 million vehicles in August, over 28 selling days, besting year-ago daily sales by 12.8% and lifting the SAAR to 16.02 million units, its highest level since November 2007.

The industry daily sales rate of 53,490 was just the fourth highest DSR of the year, but August's 28 selling days pushed volume sales to their highest level since May 2007.

Year-to-date LV sales through the first eight month of 2013 totaled 10.6 million units, up 9.6% over like-2012. 

1:20 PM Asian auto makers led the way to today's 16-million unit SAAR. Kia was up just 0.3% overyear-ago, but Mazda shot up 21.9% and helped lift overall Asia-brand daily auto sales 17% over same-month year-ago. Detroit 3 auto sales, meanwhile, rose 9.3% in August, falling shy of their combined YTD gain of 10.9%.

1:00 PM Honda reported sales of 166,432 LVs in August, all but assuring that the August SAAR will top 16 million for the first time since November 2007 to break the 16-million mark. Honda daily sales rose 22.2% over year-ago, more than twice the company's YTD growth of 11%.

Volkswagen was one of the few companies to report a declining DSR, dropping 5.1%, but VW's sister company Audi offset that loss with a 17.2% gain over year-ago.

11:20 GM sold 275,847 light vehicles last month, making August the highest-volume sales month since September 2008 - immediately before the financial collapse. Daily sales were up 10.6% - despite fears that low fleet orders would hamper year-over-year comparisons. GM's YTD sales are up 9.8%.

10:20 AM: The projected SAAR continues to rise as more companies report. Nissan continued the streak of strong sales reports from Asian auto makers, with a 120,498 LV deliveries. The company claimed it was its best retail sales month ever, with over 100,000 retail deliveries. Combined daily sales for Nissan/Infiniti brands were up 17.9% in August, and 10.3% YTD.

Porsche, the first European company to report today, saw daily sales rise 6% in August, versus same-month year-ago.

10 AM: Ford gained momentum in the final days of the month, building on strong F-Series pickup sales to enjoyed a end-of-month run with 216,017 LV deliveries, an 8.1% gain on year-ago DSR. The strong finish left Ford behind Toyota, however, in monthly sales for the second consecutive month - the first time that's occurred since November and December 2009. 

Subaru daily sales were up almost 40%, on unit sales of 41,061 units. Subaru is tracking 29.3% over year-ago YTD through August.
 

9:30 AM: Toyota charges in early, nearly 8% over expectations, with reported deliveries of 231,537 units, lifting its DSR 18.4% over year-ago. DSR was company's best since August 2009 Cash-for-Clunker-incented sales bonaza. Total monthly volume was Toyota's highest since May 2008.

Chrysler slipped in  just under Ward's forecast, with roughly 164K LV sales - a 7.3% lift in DSR, and the Detroit 3 company's best August since 2007.

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Let me know when you have the prelim Ford LV total. Thx.