North American Q3 Output Plans Call for More Cars, Fewer Trucks

Just as third-quarter production gets under way, North American auto makers are upping their plans for the period to 3,777,100 vehicles, adding 9,700 units to the 3,767,400 planned a month ago.

Manufacturers also are adjusting their car-truck mix to reflect the high dealer stocks of some light trucks.

While Ford still is mulling revisions to its Q3 slate, other auto makers have moved ahead with changes resulting in 39,300 fewer truck assemblies than previously planned for the quarter.

That’s a reflection of dealers’ excess days’ supply of light trucks, particularly large pickups and SUVs, as well as some midsize cross/utility vehicles and SUVs that have been running well ahead of desirable levels.

At the same time, dealers have complained of a dearth of inventory for many of the more-popular car models, prompting auto makers to boost Q3 car production by 49,000 units.

Chrysler, for example, is trimming 12,900 light trucks, most of them large pickups, from its July-September plan, while adding 7,500 car assemblies. Toyota cut 7,500 truck assemblies in the quarter and has added 1,000 cars.

While Nissan and General Motors are not reducing truck assemblies from their Q3 plans, they are boosting third-quarter car production by 53,000 and 2,500 units, respectively.

However, it should be noted the Q3 car-assembly increase nearly offsets the 54,400 cars trimmed, along with 5,500 trucks, from the latest preliminary second-quarter production count of 4,027,000 units.

With the latest changes, North American assembly plants are slated to build 11,870,300 units in the year’s first nine months, a 19.5% improvement over the 9,932,200 finished in like-2011.

Operating at 108.4% of prior-year’s rate, the Detroit Three auto makers account for 52.7% of this year’s tally compared with 58.1% year-ago.

Transplants account for 44.9% of output, up from 39.5% a year earlier, when their plants were crippled by parts shortages.

Despite operating at 120.3% of their prior-year pace, dedicated medium- and heavy-duty truck makers still account for 2.4% of output, the same as in 2011.

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