Editor's note: This story is part of the WardsAuto digital archive, which may include content that was first published in print, or in different web layouts.
North American automakers built 1,346,130 light vehicles in February, 2.6% below same-month 2014.
Car production in the month fell 2.7% from year-ago, to 562,532 units. The January-February total was down 1.4%.
Production of light trucks slipped 2.5%, the biggest drop since March 2013’s 3.5% decline and only the second year-over-year downturn since then. The 783,598 builds brought the 2-month 2015 result to 1,532,257, up 1.4% from last year.
General Motors regained the top-manufacturer spot from FCA, after one month in second place. Ford maintained the third-highest volume, but output tumbled 15.5% from same-month 2014.
Honda also recorded a major year-over-year drop, falling 17.6% to 122,637 vehicles.
Subaru’s production soared 25.8% above last year’s February number. Output reached 27,455 units, the manufacturer’s highest result for that month.
Toyota also had a best-February total with 145,825 vehicles, up 8.9% from last year.
Other manufacturers with record results for February included BMW and Mercedes.
Light-vehicle production in the U.S. came to 898,951 units for the month, down 5.1% from prior-year. Year-to-date, assemblies were 1.9% below same-period 2014.
Canadian LV output saw the greatest year-to-year decline since January 2013, as it fell 11.7% in February. For the first two months of 2015, the result was down just 3.6%.
Mexico continued a 14-month streak of gains over the prior year with 14.0% growth from same-month 2014. The January-February total was 10.5% above year-ago.
North American LV production year-to-date was 2,678,277 units, up 0.2% from last year.