North American Q1 Production Slate Grows

Optimism growing, North American auto makers for the second consecutive month are pumping up their first-quarter production plans, this time by a net 71,100 units.

The revised slate calls for 3,870,000 completions in the quarter, a 12.3% gain compared with prior-year’s 3,445,900 assemblies.

Although January ended an estimated 6,500 vehicles shy of plan, February will see an additional 55,600 units built and March output will get a 22,000-unit boost, with the overall Q1 increase tilting 53% in favor of trucks.

General Motors is ahead of the pack, adding 29,500 assemblies to its Q1 slate in February-March, part of which offsets a 7,700-unit January shortfall.

Output of the all-new ’13 Chevy Malibu, 2,751 of which were built in January, figures into the auto maker’s 11,500-unit car-production increase. Truck output is set for a gain of 19,500, more than making up for a 9,200-unit January shortfall.

Ford’s overall Q1 slate remains steady, with a minuscule 700-unit decline compared with its prior plan. A 7,000-unit truck-production cut mostly is offset by the addition of 6,300 car assemblies, including an 1,800-unit January overbuild.

Chrysler’s Q1 slate grows by 4,800 units, despite 3,200 fewer cars in the plan, including an estimated shortfall of 1,200 vehicles in January. Truck output grows by 8,000 for the quarter, including a 2,500-unit January overbuild.

First-quarter gains among the transplants include 11,700 at AutoAlliance; 9,800 at Kia, where a 10,700-unit jump in car assemblies is partially offset by 900 fewer cross/utility vehicles; 9,100 at Toyota; 8,600 at BMW; and 7,400 at Honda.

Nissan, however, now expects to build 4,100 fewer vehicles, with a 4,800-unit cut in car output slightly offset by 700 additional truck assemblies.

The Q1 tally comes on the heels of a final fourth-quarter 2011 production count of 3,536,800 vehicles, 77,900 units ahead of prior estimates. That wrapped up the year at 13, 472,200 units, a 10.8% gain from 2010’s 12,157,500 assemblies.

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