Chrysler January US sales rise 44pct on Jeep brand

Chrysler Group LLC, the automaker majority owned by Fiat SpA, said US sales rose 44 per cent last month on demand for Jeep sport-utility vehicles and 200 sedans.

Deliveries in January increased to 101,149 cars and light trucks from 70,118 a year earlier, Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler said today in a statement. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 32 per cent sales gain.

Light-vehicle sales in January may have run at a 13.4 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, the average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The pace probably accelerated from 12.7 million a year earlier while automakers’ spending on incentives stayed steady or slid from a year earlier, according to analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co, RBC Capital Markets LLC and Barclays Capital.

“We’re looking at a completely revamped lineup from Chrysler that’s still kicking in, with a lot of models coming up on their first full year of production,” Alec Gutierrez, an analyst for Kelley Blue Book, said in a phone interview before results were disclosed. “A year ago, Chrysler didn’t quite have the product they needed to drive sales.”

Models such as the 200 sedan, Chrysler’s top-selling car last year, and the Dodge Durango SUV first arrived at dealerships a year ago. Deliveries of the 200 surged to 7,007 in January from 788 a year ago and Durango more than doubled to 3,021 from 1,199. Jeep brand sales climbed 37 per cent to 31,710 led by the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler SUVs.

With the average age of US cars and trucks rising to a record 10.8 years, according to R L Polk & Co, analysts see pent-up demand bolstering sales in January and boosting deliveries to a third straight annual gain, the longest streak since US sales peaked in 2000. An improving job market and available credit may drive up full-year sales more than 6 per cent to 13.6 million, the average of 18 analysts’ estimates.

Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co.may gain the most, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts last week. Buyers who are loyal to the brands put off purchases last year while the companies dealt with production disruptions caused by the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan and floods late in the year in Thailand.

Auto-sales growth in January may be led by Chrysler and Korea-based affiliates Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp. Hyundai and Kia, both based in Seoul, may combine to sell 18 per cent more vehicles than a year earlier, the average of four estimates. That would be the two companies’ 17th straight combined monthly combined sales increase from a year earlier.

Ford Motor Co deliveries may climb 7.9 per cent, the average of eight estimates. The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker saw a “significant” shift in demand toward small and mid-size cars in January, Erich Merkle, Ford’s sales analyst, said in an interview.

“You’ll see a sequential drop-off in pickup trucks,” Merkle said. “A lot of folks who wanted pickup trucks probably pulled the trigger in December,” including commercial fleet customers who made purchases before the expiration of the accelerated depreciation tax benefit that allowed businesses to write off 100 per cent of some capital investments last year.

Toyota sales may gain for a third consecutive month, rising 7 per cent, while Honda deliveries may drop 1.2 per cent, the averages of six analysts’ estimates. Nissan Motor Co may increase sales 7.6 per cent, the average of six analysts’ estimates.

General Motors Co, which regained global sales leadership last year, may sell 7.3 per cent fewer cars than a year earlier, the average of eight analysts’ estimates. The Detroit-based automaker may have pulled back on incentives from a year ago, when it outspent the industry average by 42 per cent, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata Corp.

Volkswagen AG, which is targeting US sales growth of more than 10 per cent this year, may increase combined sales of its Volkswagen and Audi brand vehicles by 27 per cent in January from the year-earlier month, the average of three estimates. The Wolfsburg, Germany-based automaker plans to sell more than 500,000 cars in the US this year as part of its goal to become the world’s biggest automaker by 2018.