October 2016 U.S. LV Sales Thread: Automakers Hit 17.9 Million SAAR

WardsAuto tracks light-vehicle (LV) deliveries throughout sales reporting day. Monthly year-over-year change represents the change in daily sales rate (DSR).  October had 26 selling days this year compared with 28 days in 2015, meaning DSR % change will be higher than straight volume %change for year-over-year comparisons this month.

Related Table 

U.S. Light Vehicle Sales Summary table

SUMMARY:

U.S. automakers delivered 1.36 million light vehicles last month, resulting in 17.90 million SAAR, the highest SAAR of any month this year. The daily sales rate of 52,458 over 26 selling days was 15-year high for the month, beating prior-year by 1.5% (28 days).

GM led the market, accounting for 19.0% of the sales, on 258,588 deliveries, up 5.9% from year-ago. Toyota fit into the No.2 spot with 186,295 sales for a 14.4% share.

Ford postponed reporting due to a fire at its headquarters. WardsAuto estimates approximately 183,000 LVs were sold by the automaker, resulting in a 13.4% market share and a 5.0% decline in DSR from last year.

FCA undersold year-ago by 3.3%, giving the automaker a 12.8% share. The No.5 automaker, Honda, recorded a 3.2% improvement, good for a 9.2% share of the market.

The industry's year-to-date sales rose to 14.4 million units, down just 0.2% from same-period 2015.

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

UPDATE 1:10 PM ET:

Kia delivered 48,977 units, up 5.4% in DSR.

BMW took a sharp downturn in October, as daily sales fell 10.2% on 27,971 units over 26 days.

Mazda's DSR came in 3.9% below year-ago.

UPDATE 12:20 PM ET:

Toyota came in below forecast levels with 186,295 units, resulting a 1.7% DSR drop from last year. The year-to-date total surpassed 2-million units, but was 3.0% less than the same-period 2015.

Nissan saw the greatest growth of the top Japanese automakers with a 5.3% jump to 113,520 deliveries. Jan-Oct, the automaker was up 4.7%

Honda met forecast levels almost exactly, selling 126,161 cars and light trucks in the month, a 3.2% improvement versus year-ago's DSR. The 10-month total was 2.6% better than like-2015.

UPDATE 10:30 AM ET:

GM surpassed expectations with 5.9% DSR growth from last year to 258,626 units. Year-to-date, the automaker was 3.6% behind like-2015.

FCA sold 175,073 LVs in October, down 3.4% from year-ago. January-October, sales were 2.2% higher.

Nissan's sales jumped 5.3% to 113,520 units. For the first 10 months of the year, deliveries were up 4.7%

Due to a fire at its headquarters, Ford is postponing its report. WardsAuto will conclude today's U.S. sales report with estimates for the automaker.