USA February 2024: Honda (+37.8%), Lincoln (+38%) stand out in market up 6.3%

Lincoln Nautilus sales are up 95.7% year-on-year in February.

According to NADA, the U.S. new light vehicle market is up 6.3% year-on-year in February on an annualised basis with a SAAR of 15.81 million units. It’s up 3.9% on January which was a 10-month low at 15.2 million. The year-to-date SAAR is up 2.7% to 15.39 million. Cars are up 6.5% to 3.13 million annualised, light tricks up 6.3% to 12.68 million, domestic light vehicles are up 4.4% to 12.32 million and imports up 13.3% to 3.49 million. Year-to-date, crossovers account for 49.9% of the market vs. 46.7% a year ago and pickups are at 16.2% share. More generous incentives partly explain this relatively strong result. Based on data shared by J.D. Power, average incentives per vehicle shoot up 75.3% year-on-year to $2,565, the highest amount since May 2021. As a result the average transaction price is down $1,919 year-on-year to $44,045.

Among groups still sharing monthly data, Toyota Motor is up 16.2%, Ford Motor up 10.7%, Hyundai-Kia is timid at +1.6% and American Honda surges 32.3%. Brand-wise, Ford (+9.6%) outsells Toyota (+16%) while Honda (+37.8%) is just above 100,000 units. Lexus (+17.4%) and Lincoln (+38%) post very satisfying results just as Genesis (+9.4%) also tops the market growth. Mazda (+6.7%), Hyundai (+5.8%) and Subaru (+3.1%) are more discreet whereas Volvo (-7.5%), Acura (-6.1%) and Kia (-3%) disappoint.

Looking at models with available monthly volume, the Ford F-Series (-5%) is in difficulty, with year-to-date sales down -8.6%. In contrast the Toyota RAV4 (+43.9%) and Honda CR-V (+98.6%) both post fantastic gains. The Toyota Camry (+7%) still manages an uptick but the Honda Civic (+36.6%) and Toyota Corolla (+22.3%) are catching up. Notice also the Ford Escape (+105.2%), Edge (+105.2%), Toyota 4Runner (+92.9%), Ford Maverick (+73.4%) and Subaru Forester (+48.4%) all in great shape.

Previous month: USA January 2024: Market edges up 4.5%, Toyota up 25.7%

One year ago: USA February 2023: Ford, Kia, Volvo shine in market up 8.7%

Full February 2024 data for selected groups, brands and models below.