January Sales Thread (FINAL): US LV Sales Plummet With Temperature

January 2014 Light Vehicle Sales Volume:
WardsAuto forecast LV Sales:   1.06 million units
Current projected LV sales:      1.01 million units

January 2014 Light Vehicle SAAR:
WardsAuto forecast LV SAAR:                           15.85 million
Actual January 2014 Final forecast SAAR:         15.14 million

WardsAuto tracks light vehicle (LV) sales throughout each sales reporting day. Monthly year-over-year change represents the change in daily sales rate (DSR). January had 25 selling days this year and in 2013. 

Sales day update thread:

Final Wrapup: U.S. automakers sold 1,008,622 LVs in January, a 3% decline from same-month year-ago. Cold weather was blamed for slow retail sales, especially in regions unaccustomed, or prepared for, the cold temperatures and heavy snows that fell across much of the country.

The slow start to 2014 comes in the wake of disappointing December sales to finish out 2013.

January LV sales equated to a 15.14 million-unit SAAR, well below early forecasts of 15.85 million.

Chrysler (+7.9%) and Nissan (+11.8%) were the only U.S. Top 7 auto companies to report significant year/year gains, with Hyundai reaching the plus-side on a 0.7% improvement.

GM (-11.9%) grabbed just 17% of the market, compared to a 18.7% share of same-month 2013 sales.

Together, Detroit 3 car companies sold 5.3% fewer light vehicles this January than last, with Asia automakers recording a 0.2% downturn and European brands registering a a collective 3% decline.

2:30 P.M.: Honda sold 91,631 units in January, down 2% from year-ago,  while Kia, the last company to report, recorded a 2% uptick, on record-January deliveries of 37,011.

1:30 P.M.: BMW beat year-ago sales by 3%, on deliveries of 20,796 BMW and Mini brand LVs. Rival Daimler bested year-ago by 1.4% on 24,413 unit sales. Smaller volume Jaguar Land Rover was the only European brand to report double-digit growth in January, with deliveries rising 15.1% to just over 6,000.

12:10 P.M.: Hyundai added to the list of automakers' citing "weather issues across teh country" as a challenge to sales, reporting 44,005 deliveries, a 0.7% improvement over like-2013.

NOON: With Ford reporting a 7.4% decline in year-over-year sales rate, on 150,541 light vehicle deliveries, Detroit 3 automakers saw sales fall a collective 5.3% versus same-month year-ago, despite strong growth from Fiat Chrysler. Ford called out cold weather in key markets as a contributing factor to its year/year drop, while also citing the weather's impact on "the timing" of some fleet deliveries.

10:30 A.M.: General Motors undershot already weak expecations, with January results falling 11.9% below year-ago. GM delivered 171,486 light vehicles compaered to nearly 195,000 in January 2013. The automaker's pickup truck sales continued to disappoint, with sales of the Chevy Silverado and the GMC Sierra down 25.6% and 13.5%  respecitvely.

10:00 A.M.: Chrysler reported LV sales of 126,205 in January, a 7.5% year-over-year increase in daily sales, in line with expectations.

Toyota finished the month with 146,365 deliveries, down 7.2%. The automakers' Toyota division fell 9%, while its luxury Lexus division saw sales rise 8.8%.

Nissan reported an 11.8% jump in daily sales for the month with 90,470 deliveries.

Subaru reported its best Janaury sales volume ever, with 33,000 deliveries, a 19.3% jump over year-ago, that was nonetheless, a tad below WardsAuto's expectations.