November 2016 U.S. LV Sales Thread: Light Trucks, Extra Days Boost November Volumes

WardsAuto tracks light-vehicle (LV) deliveries throughout sales reporting day. Monthly year-over-year change represents the change in daily sales rate (DSR).  November had 25 selling days this year compared with just 23 days in 2015, meaning DSR % change will be lower than straight volume %change for year-over-year comparisons this month.

Related Table 

U.S. Light Vehicle Sales Summary table

FINAL SUMMARY:

With two extra selling days in November, U.S. automakers outpaced same-month year-ago sales on a volume basis, despite a 4.6% decline in the daily sales rate (DSR).

Strong light-truck sales were a key factor in November sales, as the industry delivered 1,372,402 LVs  - 48,904 more than it did a year-ago, over the course of 25 selling days (vs. 23 last year).

Sales were in line with WardsAuto's forecast for the month, with the light-vehicle SAAR finishing at 17.75 million-units. November was the third-straight month to outpace the year-to-date SAAR of 17.3 million-units.

GM led all automakers with an 18.4% share of the market, followed by Ford (14%), Toyota (14.4%), FCA (11.6)%, and Honda (9%).

Year-to-date sales for the industry reached 15.783 million units, giving the first 11 months of 2016 a lead of just 17,542 units over like-2015 heading into December - and keeping alive the prospect that 2016 will break the single-year sales record set last year.

UPDATE 1:45 PM ET: BMW's daily sales fell 22.5% from like-2015, on BMW- and Mini-branded deliveries of 30,696 - nearly 6,000 units below year-ago results.

Hyundai's November DSR was off 4.2% from year-ago, as the automaker delivered 62,507 LVs. South Korean sister-company Kia, offset those results somewhat, improving its daily rate by 6% on 52,504 deliveries. 

UPDATE 11:55 AM ET: Ford delivered 191,715 light vehicles in November - nearly 10,000 more than same-month year-ago - despite a DSR drop of 3.3%. Mazda daily sales were down nearly 11%, as the company's volume sales (22,041) fell just below year-ago, despite the extra selling days this year.

UPDATE 11:10 AM ET: Volkswagen reported a 14.3% rise in daily sales of VW brand vehicles on 29,672 deliveries in November, bolstered by strong Passat and Golf SportWagen sales. Volvo's 7,723 November unit sales represented a 2.9% rise in daily sales compared with year-ago.

Honda reported record November sales volume of 122,924 LV deliveries, against a 2.5% drop in its DSR. 

UPDATE 10:15 AM ET: General Motors reported strong retails sales for its Chevrolet and Buick brands, pushing total LV sales for the company over 252,000 units, a 1.4% DSR gain over year-ago, just above forecast levels. 

Toyota claimed best-ever November light-truck sales and record November Corolla sales on its way to selling 197,645 LVs - a 4.1% decline in daily sales compared with year-ago, also slightly higher than WardsAuto's forecast.

FCA deliveries were directly in line with the forecast at 159,536 units. Sales were down versus year-ago on a volume basis (-27,250 units) and a daily sales basis (-21.4%).

Audi sold 17,118 vehicles as its DSR declined 5.7% versus same-month year-ago.

Nissan outperformed the forecast by more than 4%, recording record November sales volume of 115,136 LVs, a 1.1% drop in its daily sales rate for the month.