North American Light-Vehicle Production Up 4.8% in June
Car production was slightly below year-ago, but output of light trucks jumped 8.5%.
North American automakers built 1,545,215 light vehicles in June, 4.8% above like-2014, and a 15-year high for the month.
Output of light trucks jumped 8.5% from year-ago to 908,245 units, a best-ever June result. Year-to-date, light trucks were 2.2% above 2014 at 5,105,673.
Cars showed a small downtick in June, slipping just 0.1% to 636,970, but hit the second-best outcome for the month since 2002. The 6-month total was 3,664,222, leading to a year-over-year improvement similar to trucks with a 2.3% gain.
Mexico’s 308,983 tally was a best-ever June result and the second highest of any month. Year-to-date, the country built 8.6% more LVs than prior-year.
The U.S. reached a 15-year high with 1,037,028 units, surpassing the 1-million mark in June for the first time since 2006. A 5.5% improvement for the month lifted output in the first-half of 2015 2.7% above year-ago.
Canada continued to post poor results, dropping 4.2% from June 2014 to 199,204 LVs. Through the first six months of the year, production in the country was down 8.1%.
Several big manufacturers hit record-high June numbers. Honda increased production 10.2% to 158,314 units, while Toyota reached 181,336, up 9.3% to a second-best result of any month. Nissan posted a smaller gain, 2.2%, with 157,588 LVs.
Other automakers with record-highs for the month include BMW, Mercedes and Subaru.
Production in the first half of the year totaled 8,769,895 units, 2.3% above the same period in 2014. WardsAuto predicts 2015 will finish 3% higher than last year.
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