Makers Build on Robust Q1 Plan

Just a month after posting a robust first-quarter North American production slate, auto makers have added substantially to the number of trucks planned for assembly and trimmed car output slightly, although more cars are scheduled than were built a year ago.

The tally could rise further if Ford, still reviewing its assembly plans, follows the industry trend by adding additional units when it finalizes its revisions later this month.

Currently, there are 4,281,200 vehicles scheduled for assembly in January-March, 4.9% more than the 4,081,000 units turned out in first-quarter 2013.

The increase includes 7.2% more trucks and 2.1% more cars compared with like-2013.

Now on tap for January-March production are 2,426,500 light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks, 45,800 more than were planned a month ago. The entire increase so far is among the light-duty models with the dedicated medium-and heavy-duty truck makers holding to earlier plans.

Chrysler, General Motors and Toyota are at the forefront of the gain, upping light-truck output a combined 43,500 units, including 19,500 at GM, 13,500 at Chrysler and 10,500 at Toyota.

Although vans figure prominently in Chrysler’s output boost, pickups are largely behind the gains at GM and Toyota.

The largest share of the industry’s truck output increase, 21,000 units, is slated for this month, followed by 14,700 in March and 9,300 units in February.

On the car side, the revised schedule calls for 2,000 fewer January-March assemblies than were slated a month ago. Cuts of 5,500 units at GM and 500 at Chrysler are offset by a 6,000-unit boost at Toyota, with Honda and Subaru together scheduling 2,000 fewer units.

The first-quarter vehicle-output boost follows a 32,900-unit increase in estimated October-November production that brought the fourth-quarter to a close at 4,162,500 vehicles, a 6.9% gain on like-2012’s 3,895,700 completions.

The Q4 rise resulted from a strong 44,500-unit November overbuild that was offset partially by a 4,100-unit underbuild in the final October tally and an estimated 7,500-unit December shortfall.

The strong fourth-quarter finish ended production in 2013 at an estimated 16,536,100 units. That was 4.7% ahead of the 15,797,800 built in 2012 and the industry’s best result since 16,717,337 vehicles were turned out in 2002.

Among the Detroit Three, Ford posted the biggest year-over-year gain, 10.1%, followed by Chrysler’s 4.8% increase and 1.5% rise at GM.

Nissan’s 12.2% increase was the strongest among the high-volume transplants, followed by 6.6% at Honda and 5.7% at Toyota.

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