Auto Makers Boost North America Q2 Output

While Ford continues to mull changes in its second-quarter output plans, the rest of the industry is adding some 74,100 units to their production schedules for the period.

The gains so far, spread across all three months but weighted more toward April and June, result from increased output at Chrysler and several transplant auto makers, notably Nissan and Volkswagen.

Absent Ford, which will unveil any changes later this month following its Q1 earnings report, 4,243,100 cars and trucks are slated for assembly in April-June, an average of 67,986 daily, up 2.7% from 66,175 previously slated and 3.1% ahead of the 65,932 vehicles built daily in second-quarter 2012.

Leading the industry gains are the 29,700 units Chrysler is adding to its Q2 program, all but 2,500 of them trucks,, followed by increases of 26,000 (24,000 trucks) at Nissan and 27,500 cars at VW.

General Motors, Kia, Mitsubishi and Subaru have added incremental units to the second-quarter slate, while Honda and Toyota have trimmed a net 6,000 from their April-June plans.

Dedicated medium-and heavy-duty truck makers plan to build 13,800 fewer big rigs in the second quarter than the number booked for assembly a month ago.

The stronger second-quarter outlook comes on the heels of a revised first-quarter tally, now estimated at 4,041,700 units, still 0.6% less than year-earlier but roughly 77,100 more than were on the books at the beginning of March.

The revised January-March outlook includes an increase of 46,000 units in February’s final count and an estimated 34,900-unit March overbuild.

North American plants now are expected to turn out 8,284,800 units in the first half of the year, an increase of 1.6% over the 8,153,100 built in like-2012.

The Detroit 3 have 4,330,000 assemblies on tap in January-June, or 1.1% more than the 4,283,100 built in like-2012, giving them a 52.3% production share vs. 53.5% year-ago.

Transplant output is pegged at 3,794,800 units compared with prior-year’s 3,670,400, a 3.4% increase that bumps their share to 45.8% from 45.0% in first-half 2012, while the big-rig makers plan to assemble 160,000 units in the period this year, down 19.8% from the 199,600 built a year ago.

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