North American Light-Vehicle Production Up 4.4% in February

Light-vehicle production in North America reached 1,385,540 units in February, up 4.4% from year-ago.

Car production recorded a fifth consecutive monthly year-over-year decline, falling 3.6% to 578,117. U.S. inventory of cars was at a 17-year high at the end of January, and U.S. car sales over the first two months of this year dropped 7.3% from like-2013.

Offsetting the decline of cars, light-truck production reached 807,423 units, climbing 11.0%. Severe winter weather also has kept light-truck inventory higher than normal, but demand continues to grow, reflected in a 4.4% year-to-year gain in U.S. sales through February.

WardsAuto estimates the Detroit Three manufactured a total of 769,925 LVs in February, an 8.9% gain on last year.

Nissan and Hyundai posted record-high February production. Hyundai built 35,733 units, beating its 2013 figure by 8.4%. Nissan saw an 11.7% gain in car production and a whopping 42.9% jump in light-truck production from prior-year.

Honda launched output of the Fit in Celaya, Mexico, building 1,101 units in the first month.

Mexican plants upped February LV production 0.5% from 2013, resulting in the highest output for that month, at 247,240 units. Year-to-date, 495,163 LVs have been built, a 1.4% increase.

Canadian output continued to decline, falling 1.4% to 190,416 last month. U.S. light-vehicle production totaled 947,884, up 6.7%.

Through February, North American light-vehicle production this year rose 2.0% from 2013 to 2,676,408 units.

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