World Vehicle Sales up 3.7% in January

Global automakers delivered 7.55 million vehicles in January, rising 3.7% above year-ago and starting 2017 on a high note.

For the first time in more than a year, sales in South America increased 10.9% year-over-year to 304,000 units. Growth was seen in Argentina (+61.6%), Chile (+7.5%) and Uruguay (+16.9%), a month after OPEC agreed to reduce oil production and price-per-barrel began to rise.

In Europe, sales were up 9.7% to 1.51 million. Many countries witnessed double-digit growth, including Spain (+12.6%), Italy (+10.1%), the Netherlands (+24.7%) and Poland (+16.5%).

After a couple of months of growth, Russia sales slipped 5.0% from year-ago to under 80,000 vehicles.

January usually is the biggest sales month of the year for the U.K and Ireland due to their registration systems. Demand was up 2.9% in the U.K. to 200,000 units, while sales dipped 1.9% in Ireland.

Sales in the Asia-Pacific region inched up 1.9% over same-month 2016 to 3.81 million units.

Demand was flat in China, increasing just 0.2% to 2.52 million. Chinese New Year celebrations and expiring tax incentives contributed to the slow growth.

Sales were down in Singapore (-0.8%), Vietnam (-10.8%) and Pakistan (-2.7%).

Other countries outpaced the region, including India where sales jumped 11.2% to 330,000 units. Sales grew 4.9% in Japan to 402,000 units, continuing momentum from the end of last year. In New Zealand sales soared 16.2% to 14,000 units.

Dipping behind the world growth rate, North America deliveries fell 1.3% to 1.40 million vehicles. The loss came from U.S. sales, which contracted 2.1% to 1.16 million after another banner year in 2016. Sales in Canada were up 2.1% at 113,000 vehicles.

Mexico sales improved 3.2% over year-ago’s January record to 126,000 units, extending a 33-month stretch of gains.

Global annual vehicle sales have steadily increased since 2009, and forecasts call for a robust 2017.

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