North America Production Flat in February
Weak results from the U.S. and especially Canada were reported, while totals continued to rise in Mexico.
March 19, 2018
In February, North America light-vehicle production came in even with year-ago at 1,451,693 units. A 15.5% decrease in car output was balanced by 8.5% growth in light-truck builds, which accounted for 70.1% of the region’s total.
Automakers in the U.S. slowed production 1.1% to 945,778 light vehicles.
Results varied among manufacturers: Toyota was down 4.15% to 103,577 units, while Honda boosted production 5.0% to 109,978 and Ford was up 4.2% to 210,507. Kia (-11.8%), Nissan (-13.5%) and Subaru (-11.2%) all saw double-digit declines.
With a sluggish start to the year, the U.S. was 2.1% behind 2-months 2017 at 1,834,440 builds through February.
In Canada, production dipped 5.6% to 176,137 for the month. Both car (-3.8%) and light-truck (-6.4%) output fell behind year-ago.
FCA’s Canada total soared an estimated 21.2% to 54,094 units, helped by a 67.6% surge in Chrysler Pacifica assemblies.
Honda production of the CR-V and Civic increased 1.2% to 35,171 units, and Ford was up 5.8% to 22,169.
Year-to-date, automakers in Canada built 9.0% fewer LVs than year-ago at 344,109.
In contrast, Mexico production ramped up 6.8% to 329,778. Light trucks soared 49.8% to 204,885 units, accounting for 20% of the region’s light-truck total.
Big gains came from Toyota, which climbed 25.1% to 10,925 units; Ford, up 33.9% to 26,665; and Kia, improving 79.3% to 22,300.
Growing through the first two months, Mexico’s total outpaced same-period 2017 by 7.2% with 633,202 LVs.
Looking at the whole region, results were mixed. Ford saw a 6.7% increase to 266,324 units and Kia was up 42,242, while Nissan’s total shrank 18.5% to 128,486 and Hyundai tumbled 30.3% to 21,500.
CUV by far was the biggest segment group in the region, with 512,844 units built in February by 14 manufacturers, and up 14.3% year-to-date. SUVs also saw a 14.4% increase to 132,032, while luxury cars dwindled 16.5% to 36,745.
Overall, automakers in North America built 2,811,751 units through February, slipping 1.1% from 2-month 2017.
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