North America Production Down 1.6% in January

Automakers in North America built 1,368,787 light vehicles in January, starting the year 1.6% behind 2017. Extending an 8-month stretch of declines, car production fell 14.9% to 415,793 units. On the other hand, light-truck output improved 5.5% to 952,994, accounting for 69.6% of the region’s tally.

Production slowed 1.6% in the U.S. to 903,413 light vehicles. Ford, the biggest volume producer in the country, dipped 1.7% to 200,033. Nissan tumbled 8.1% to 68,414 units and Toyota slipped 1.4% to 111,736.

Subaru slowed 9.41% to 29,292 units from its only plant outside of Japan. Output of the Impreza and Legacy was reduced in preparation for the introduction of the Ascent, a new 3-row CUV.

Manufacturers in Canada pulled back production 10.5% to 171,479 units. Car and light-truck volumes both were down about 10%.

Toyota production shrank 13.6% to 46,451 units, while Ford output jumped 10.5% to 24,270.

Outpacing the region, production in Mexico improved 4.3% to 293,895 LVs. Light-truck builds were up 27.3%, thanks in part to Volkswagen’s Tiguan and Audi Q5, which were still ramping up this time last year.

COMPAS, the Daimler-Nissan alliance facility in Aguascalientes, pumped out an estimated 3,000 Infiniti QX50s in its second month of production.

Looking at the region as a whole, Nissan production slowed 1.2% and Hyundai fell 22.5%, while Volkswagen improved an estimated 8.7% and Kia soared an estimated 23.0%. Wards Intelligence forecasts slowdowns from the top manufacturers, aside from FCA, through the first quarter.

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