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North American car and truck assembly plants are gearing up to build 4,619,300 vehicles in April-June, or 2.2% more than the 4,520,100 cars and trucks turned out in like-2014.
That’s also an estimated 257,000-plus units more than were built in January-March, when heavy winter weather in parts of the region took a toll on vehicle assemblies, as did parts shortages stemming from the West Coast dockworkers dispute.
But despite the record 2,727,600 trucks slated for completion in April-June, besting by 0.9% the prior Q2 benchmark of 2,703,600 set a year ago, total vehicle production ranks only fourth-best for the period behind Q2 2000’s 4,823,816 assemblies. The tally would have been higher if not for the lengthy mid-February to late-May closure of FCA’s Canadian van plant for changeover to all-new models.
At 1,891,700 units, scheduled second-quarter car assemblies rank only 20th in the last 30 years, although they top by 4.1% the 1,816,500 units turned out in like-2014. The all-time April-June car assembly record was set in 1985, at 2,599,474 units.
Although Ford has yet to unveil its official second-quarter outlook, the Dearborn automaker’s production for the period is forecast by WardsAuto at 836,800 vehicles, 4.8% ahead of the 798,700 cars and trucks built in the same period a year-ago.
With March yet to be completed, the industry first-quarter slate now stands at 4,361,900 units, an estimated 40,300 less than the 4,402,200 vehicles booked for completion a month earlier. Bad weather and the dockworkers slowdown largely were responsible for the 41,600-unit January shortfall and the bulk of the estimated 10,300-unit loss seen in February.
So far, automakers are attempting to recover only a portion of that loss in March, with just 11,700 units added to the month’s output slate.
With weather issues still unsettled, car and truck manufacturers appear to be taking a cautious approach to recovering “lost” units.
At present, first-half vehicle output is set at 8,981,300 units, a 2.0% gain on year-ago’s 8,805,600 builds.
Of that, the FCA, Ford and GM troika are set to build 4,677,400 units, 99.5% of prior-year’s 4,699,200 completions. That equals 52.1% output share this year, down from 53.4% in like-2014.
Transplants, despite parts shortages among some Asian brands, have scheduled January-June output at 4,116,900 units, or 105.1% of year-ago’s 3,917,900 finishes. That nets them a 45.8% output share against like-2014’s 44.5%.
Dedicated medium- and heavy-duty truck makers have slated first-half output at 99.2% of the prior year, with their production share unchanged at 2.1%
