By Angelo Young - The world’s “Big 8” automakers are releasing February U.S. monthly sale figures throughout the day Monday. Forecasts point to around 1.2 million unit sales, up slightly from the year-ago period. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate is expected to be around 15.4 million, up from 15.2 million in January.
The unusually cold and stormy winter weather in much of the country is being blamed for the lackluster performance in new-auto sales since the start of the year. Big 8 inventory levels are high and incentives (what automakers spend on rebates and enticements) are growing, by 5.1 percent compared to last year, to $2,633 per sale, according to automotive pricing and data provider TrueCar, Inc. That rate is outpacing the average transaction price of $32,074, or 3.6 percent above last year and the highest average sale price for February since 2009.
Click here to read more about February’s U.S. new-auto sales performance.
UPDATE 7 a.m. -- Nissan North America, Inc.
The Nashville, Tenn.-based subsidiary of Japan’s third largest automaker was the first to announce February U.S. auto sales figures on Monday. It showed deliveries up 15.8 percent in February, to 115,360 units, compared to the year-ago period.
Rogue sales hit a February record, shooting up 73 percent three months after the 2014 second-generation version of Nissan’s popular compact crossover went on sale. The Nissan brand also set a February sales record of 105,631 deliveries, helped by an 11-percent increase in Altima sedan sales. Sales in the luxury Infiniti division increased 6.4 percent, to 9,729.
“Despite the frigid temperatures and weather-related challenges, Nissan sales continued with good momentum this month setting a February record—our 11th monthly sales record in the last 12 months,” said Fred Diaz, Nissan’s senior vice president for U.S. sales.
Like its competitors, Nissan has been growing incentive spending, by 3.5 percent from February of last year, slightly above the 3.3 percent industry average, according to estimates by TrueCar.
Nissan will release more details of its U.S. February sales performance later in the day.