February 2024 U.S. Auto Sales

It seems that extra day in February was good for the auto industry, at least for those car companies that report sales monthly.  Of those that do, only Acura, Volvo, and surprisingly Kia had fewer sales than February of 2023.  Unofficially, the industry was up 6% or so, but we’ll know more after the end of March when we can analyze the full first quarter of 2024 and all sellers have reported.

Ford ended up the volume leader for February 2024, with Toyota coming in second.  Although sales of the F-Series trucks were down slightly, Ford cited increased sales of hybrids, like the Maverick and Escape helped pad the numbers.  In fact, Maverick had its best month ever due to increased production.  On the Lincoln side, sales of the new Nautilus hybrid gave Lincoln a much needed 38% boost in sales versus a year ago.  Ford says 59% of Maverick buyers were conquest sales-people who traded in another brand for the small Ford pickup.

Toyota reports that sales of its Prius hybrid which was completely redesigned, were up 360% and sales of the RAV4 hybrid were up 236%, more proof that hybrids are on fire as an alternative to fully electric vehicles.  Toyota also reports that Camry, Tundra, and Corolla were up this February versus a year ago.  Only Tacoma sales were down as the current Tacoma is selling down to make room for the new Tacoma.

Honda also had gains with the Accord, CR-V, HR-V, Civic, and Pilot.  Hyundai sales were up, but sister car company Kia fell for the 3^rd straight month, which is a bit of a mystery to me and I will continue to monitor the situation.

Incentive spending by all automakers to $2,565 per vehicle according to J.D. Power and that is up from just $1,101 in February of 2023.  What a difference a year makes!  Reflecting that, and more dealer discounting, transaction prices fell over $1,900 last month from February 2023.

Photo Credit: Andy Dean Photography/Shutterstock.com.