Last month’s SAAR of 14.2 million vehicles kept pace with the year-to-date total through September but was well below the 15.0 million WardsAuto had forecast for the month.
With the region’s fourth-quarter production forecast to rise 8.3% from year-ago, pending fallout from Superstorm Sandy, capacity utilization of 93.1% in the final three months of 2012 will be a period high.
Forecast Q4 output has been raised by some 26,000 units to 3.714 million, 8.3% above like-2011, as big increases for General Motors and Nissan more than offset parings at Chrysler, Ford and Volkswagen.
Among the 24 countries tracked by WardsAuto, five enjoyed gains in the month, including Denmark, Norway, Russia, Slovakia and Switzerland. But Finland, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia saw losses ranging...
Auto makers seem determined to keep assembly lines going full tilt, even though dealer stock levels appear to be largely in line with demand, and there are indications a large-pickup retail-sales war could be brewing.
The Middle Car segment will make up 36.0% of 2013’s new-product volume, while Midsize CUVs will account for 23.3%, for a 59.3% total market share. The two segments will represent 31.2% of new-product sales in...
Light-vehicle production will continue to climb on an annual basis, reaching a 12-year high in 2014, but year-over-year comparisons will begin to narrow as the industry wraps up 2012.
Second-quarter’s utilization rate for light-vehicle production was the highest on record for any quarter since 2005, and a slight improvement on the first quarter’s 99.4%.