World Posts 14th Consecutive Month of Year-Over-Year Growth

Global vehicle sales totaled 7.49 million units in May, up 3.2%, marking the 14^th straight month of year-over-year increases. Nearly all regions reported gains in the month, led by North America’s 10.1% upturn.

North American deliveries reached 1.9 million units, accounting for 25.7% of the worldwide market. This was the largest share for the region since August’s 26.9% stake.

U.S. sales surged 11.3% in May with 1.6 million vehicles sold. August 2013 was the last time the U.S. saw an increase this substantial. Deliveries in Canada and Mexico also rose in the month, up 3.6% and 7.9%, respectively.

Sales in the Asia-Pacific region jumped in May, as well, climbing 3.9% to 3.1 million units.

China, the region’s largest market, posted an increase of 8.5% in the month with sales totaling 1.9 million units. This volume, however, was the lowest for the country since February’s 1.6 million tally.

Countries such as India (-1.1%), Japan (-1.2%) and Australia (-2.3%) reported sales declines, but these downfalls were not enough to pull the region into negative territory.

In May, the Asia-Pacific region held a 41.7% share of global sales.

Europe sales remained relatively flat for a second straight month in May, up just 0.4% over May 2013.

Deliveries in Germany rose 6.1% in the month, showing that the country is back on track after April’s dismal 3.5% fall. France (+0.3%), Spain (+19.5%) and the U.K. (+8.2%) also posted gains in May, while Italy and Russia recorded losses in the month, down 2.6% and 12.2%, respectively.

South America was the only region to witness a drop in sales in May, down 16.2% to 430,000 units.

Brazil vehicle sales tumbled 7.2% to 293,383 units, marking the third straight month of year-over-year declines for the country. Total volume, however, was the highest the country has seen since January.

Argentina (-40.9%), Chile (-20.3%) and Venezuela (-76.3%) posted sharp decreases in sales as well, keeping the overall region down for the third consecutive month. South America accounted for only 5.7% of the worldwide market in May, compared with 7.1% year-ago.

Through May, 36.8 million vehicles were sold worldwide, up 3.7% from like-2013.

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