
Photographee.eu/Adobe Stock
The Automotive Monthly Metals Index (MMI) rose by 7.1% this month, as US auto sales were strong in February.
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US auto sales
Ford Motor Co. reported its February US retail auto sales reached 163,520 vehicles, down 1.8% year over year.
Ford truck sales increased 10.2% year over year. Meanwhile, SUV sales ticked up 0.2%. Ford car sales fell 56.5%.
Ford’s estimated retail share in February reached 12%, up from 11.7% last year.
“Share gains came from trucks and new product offerings of Bronco Sport and the fully electric Mustang Mach-E,” Ford said.
Honda sales overall fell 11.4% to 106,328 vehicles. However, the automaker reported its best-ever February for Honda truck sales. Truck sales rose 5% year over year.
Electric vehicles (EVs) still represent a small percentage of Honda’s total sales. Nonetheless, the automaker reported EV sales rose 96.2%, with deliveries nearing 8,000 vehicles.
Nissan, which moved to quarterly reporting last year, in January reported Q4 2020 sales in the US fell 19.3% year over year.
US auto sales growth in February
Late last month, J.D. Power and LMC Automotive forecast sales growth in February.
The automotive intelligence groups forecast a 3.3% increase year over year when adjusting for differences in selling days.
“Despite challenges posed by inclement weather in most of the country, retail sales demand continues to be strong with the industry posting a second consecutive month of year-over-year gains,” said Thomas King, president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power. “Typically, weather related sales disruptions are made up in the weeks following, so most of the sales lost at the beginning of February will be made up at the end of February and trail into early March.”