September Sales Thread: SAAR Best Since Spring 2008

September 2012 Light Vehicle Sales Volume:
WardsAuto forecast: 1.16 million units
Actual: 1.184 million
Differential: 1.8%   
September 2012 Light Vehicle SAAR:
WardsAuto forecast: 14.60 million
Projected Actual SAAR: 14.89 million

2:56 p.m. Volvo reports 4,640 units, brings final SAAR to 14.87 million units, best since March 2008, pre-dating summer '08 gas price crisis and Sep '08 financial crisis.

Ford's 14.4% of U.S. LV sales, lowest market share for company since Aug. 2009.

2:39 p.m. Honda reports sales up 31% over year-ago. 117,211 just better than expecations. With only small-volume auto seller Volvo to report, estimated SAAR sits at 14.89 million units.

1:44 p.m. With known totals, it would appear that Ford will almost certainly grab its lowest monthly U.S. LV market share since Cash for Clunkers in July/August 2009.

1:20 p.m. Ahead of detailed manufacturer, Bloomberg tweeting that Honda sales are up 31%, which would push SAAR past 14.8 million units, for first time since April 2008.

1:00 p.m. Hyundai total on twitter - 60,026 units, up 15.3%. With Kia, Koreans balloon estimated SAAR to 14.8 million. Honda only Top 7 company stil to report.

12:37 p.m.   Kia avoided the type of August to September dropoff in DSR that it and sister-company Hyundai usually experience, to improve its year-over-year sales by 35%, crushing expectation by 15.5%. European Luxury brands also pulled ahead of forecast levels, with BMW increasing its sales by 3.5% for the month (7.1% YTD) and MErcedes improving sales by nearly 9% (15.1% YTD). The three companies results boosted the estimated SAAR to nearly 14.7 million units, despite underwhelming performances by Ford and GM.

11:50 a.m. GM saying that low September sales due to rental pull-ahead sales in August. In August, though, company was touting success of Olymipc ads. Didn't know rental companies were so suggestible.
VW reports sales up 34.4%, slighly below expectations, but German sister-company Audi exceeds expectations, with sales rising 26.5% for the month.
 

11:07 a.m.: Nissan sales down 1.1% - in line with WardsAuto forecast at 91,907. With 5 of Top 7 reporting SAAR sits at 14.5 million.

10:58 a.m. Subaru reports 27,683 deliveries - up 32.2%

10:18 a.m. First time since April that Toyota outsells Ford in LVs - only second time since July 2010.

Ford Light Vehicle sales drop 0.9% to 170,978 units. Fusion sales down -37%, offsetting much of the 91.4% gain in Focus sales (acheived against an anemic year-ago month for the small car) F-Series total, including med. dty, up just 1.2%, as anticipated truck rally fails to materialize.
Detroit 3 combined sales up just 3.2% over year-ago.

10:00 a.m. GM reports sales up just 1.5% for the month to 210K, against Ward's expectations of 4%. Cadillac sales lagged year ago by 1.5%, thought Buick was a bright spot, up 7.9%. Chrysler's gains look more impressive still. Silverado pickups DROP 16.6%.

9:40 a.m.Toyota reports 171,910 units. Directly in line with WardsAuto forecast. 41.5% increase represents positive recovery from year-ago's inventory strapped results.

9:00 a.m.: Chrysler reports 11.7% increase in sales - 141,392 light vehicles. Best September for the company since 2007: a year before the financial crisis. Ram picups rise 6%, not bad, but less than anticipated.