World Vehicle Sales Down 1.9% in February

February vehicle sales totaled 6.87 million worldwide, slipping 1.9% from like-2017 following a 6.8% boost in January.

China sales tumbled 11.4% to 1.72 million units in the same month as the Chinese New Year, compared to 1.94 million last year when the holiday was in January. Demand in Taiwan also was down 9.9% to 27,000.

Losses in other large markets in the region brought the total down 6.1% to 3.1 million. Japan (-2.2%), South Korea (-8.4%) and Indonesia (-0.9%) all saw weak demand. This was the biggest loss for the region since falling 7.5% in February 2016.

India outpaced its neighbors with a 12.6% increase to 366,000 vehicles. This rapidly growing economy supported a 13.2% boost in deliveries year-to-date.

Despite a slow month, the Asia-Pacific region sales through February were up 2.4% to 7.27 million vehicles.

Sales improved across most of Europe, gaining 5.5% to 1.53 million in February. The popularity of the CUV segment helped increase demand. For example, FCA reported a slow month while its Jeep brand saw double-digit gains.

Germany sales witnessed a 7.1% improvement to 288,000 units, and France gained 4.3% to 209,000 while U.K. sales dipped 1.7% to 98,000.

Russia sales soared 23.3% to 141,000 vehicles, and Ukraine saw a 21.2% jump to 7,000.

Europe’s 2-month total outpaced like-2017 by 6.7% with 3.14 million deliveries.

Demand was high in South America, rising 15.5% to 291,000 vehicles for the month. Sales have been improving for 10 straight months after steep declines the past few years.

The biggest gain was a 23.2% jump in Chile to 31,000, but Brazil (+15.7%) and Argentina (+17.9%) also soared above year-ago.

The region’s total through February flew 19.7% past same-period 2017 with 668,000 sales.

In North America, a 1.8% decrease in the U.S. pulled the region’s total down 1.8% to 1.57 million. Sales in Mexico fell 7.1% from year-ago’s February record of 121,000 to 112,000 last month. Canada sales were up 2.6% to 128,000.

The global market through February inched up 2.6% from same-period 2017 to 14.92 million vehicles.

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