September 2015 U.S. LV Sales Thread: LV SAAR Tops 18 Million

WardsAuto tracks light-vehicle (LV) deliveries throughout sales reporting day. Monthly year-over-year change represents the change in daily sales rate (DSR).  September had 25 selling days this year compared with 24 in 2014, meaning DSR % change will be lower than %volume change in year-over-year comparisons this month. 

Related Table 

U.S. Light Vehicle Sales Summary table

FINAL: Labor Day Weekend sales gave September a strong start and the momentum continued through the end of the month, as U.S. light vehicle sales continued to climb. Automakers sold 1.435 million LVs in September, an 11.2% improvement in daily sales from same-month year-ago, that lifted the monthly SAAR to a projected 18.1 million-units.

That marks the first time a monthly SAAR crossed the 18-million threshold since July 2005. It also extends the industry streak of 17-million-plus SAARs to five-months.

GM led all automakers with 17.5% of sales, down from year-ago's 18% share. Ford (15.1% vs 14.1% year-ago) was next, followed by Toyota (13.5%, even with year ago), FCA (13.3%) and Honda (9.3%).

Year-to-date sales rose to within 5,000 units of 13 million, up 5.1% from the same-period year ago. 

UPDATE 3:10 PM ET: Hyundai reported 64,015 sales, +9.7% DSR, while sister South Korean brand Kia was up 17.7% on 49,820 deliveries.

Daimler outpaced BMW in September, selling 32,106 light vehicles across its brand lineup, compared to 31,022 BMW and Mini brand deliveries.

Subaru sales jumped 22.7% versus year-ago DSR, with the company delivering 53,070 LVs. Subaru sales for the year are up 14.2%. 

UPDATE 12:40 PM ET: Nissan delivered 121,782 LVs, slightly above expectations and up 13.6% on daily basis compared with same-month year-ago. Nissan's sales since January are 5.6%.

UPDATE 11:55 AM ET: Honda sales came in just above expectations at 133,750 units, an 8.6% jump in DSR, that brings the company's YTD sales to 1.19 million, a 2.4% improvement over same-period 2014.

VW delivered a surprisingly strong sales report given end-of-month revelations about the automaker's rigging of emissions tests on certain diesel vehicles. The German automaker sold 26,141 vehicles in September, a 3.5% DSR decline. VW brand sales are down 2.5% through the first nine months.

UPDATE: 11:00 AM ET: Ford delivered 217,231 light vehicles in September, representing an impressive 19.2% improvement on year-ago DSR, due primarily to Ford's new F-Series vehicles coming online and the segment's continued growth. Ford's YTD sales are at 1.92 million units, up 4.9%.

Audi daily sales were up 11.6%, but fell slightly below expectations, with 17,340 deliveries for the month. YTD, Audi is running 12.5% ahead of same-period year-ago.

UPDATE: 9:50 AM ET: FCA delivered 191,372 LVs in September, in line with WardsAuto's earlier forecast for the month. FCA's sales represented a 9.2% rise in the company's daily sales rate from same-month year-ago, and brought YTD sales to 1.64 million units, up 6.3% over like-2014.

General Motors' 251,310 light-vehicle sales were considerably above projections, and lifted GM's DSR 8% over year-ago. Through the first three-quarters of 2015 GM's sales are up 4.2%, to 2.3 million units.