N. America Q2 Output Gets Boost

Thanks to significant increases at Fiat-Chrysler and Nissan, scheduled second-quarter North American vehicle output, at 4,421,200 units, is 58,600 units higher than it was when first unveiled a month ago.

Planned output, 1.7% more vehicles than were built in like-2013, signals auto makers see March’s strong sales bounce-back from the January-February doldrums continuing into the spring selling season, a traditionally strong market.

Second quarter typically is the time when assembly plants work to build up enough inventory to carry dealers through the summer-vacation and model-changeover shutdowns.

Although Q2 output is still at a level fourth-best behind the record 4,823,816 cars and trucks turned out in April-June 2000, the gap could narrow as the months progress if sales increase even more than anticipated.

Currently, most of the second-quarter gain is slated for May, up 24,400 units, and June, up 26,100, although planned output in April is 8,100 units higher that it was month ago.

It comes as no surprise that most of the Q2 gain is in trucks, a 58,600-unit boost that includes 5,200 vehicles in April, 25,400 in May and 26,100 in June.

For the most part it is the light-duty models that are behind the increase, although dedicated medium-and heavy-duty truck makers will see an incremental gain for the quarter.

Car production now is set for a 7,000-unit jump —5,100 in June and 2,900 in April, some of which is offset by a 1,000-unit reduction in May.

Fiat-Chrysler alone is adding 27,800 units, bringing its April-June slate to 675,600 vehicles, 2.8% more than it built a year ago, thanks to a 29,100-unit increase in light-truck assemblies that is offset partially by a 1,300-unit decline in Fiat car output.

Nissan is fortifying its second-quarter output with an additional 26,400 light trucks and no overall change in car volumes, although a 10,000-unit cut in the U.S. is offset by a similar gain small car production at its plants in Mexico.

Honda, on the other hand, is focusing on an 18,200-unit increase in second-quarter car output, including an expected 19,000 units at its Mexico plant that up until February had been building only small CUVs.

Ford is seen building slightly fewer vehicles in April-June than had earlier been expected, while General Motors, Mercedes and BMW are sticking with their already established volumes for the time being as other producers undertake modest adjustments, including the 5,900 units trimmed from Toyota’s Q2 slate and the 4,500 eliminated from planned Hyundai-Kia output.

Meanwhile, thanks to a sharp upturn in February’s final output count, first-quarter production stands at an estimated 4,156,300 units, 63,600 more than were booked a month ago, bringing January-June output to some 8,577,500 cars and trucks, a 1.7% increase from 8,434,700 assemblies recorded in first-half 2013.

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