Auto Sales Numbers Strong for 2014, Analysts Optimistic About 2015

We reported previously 2014 appeared to be on pace to be a very strong sales year for the retail automotive industry. At the time, Black Friday, which is typically the second strongest sales weekend of the year, was about to top off a successful November for retail automotive. Fast forward just a number of weeks and there is more data available about just how the industry performed during 2014.

Those results appear to be overwhelmingly positive. On this subject, the Chicago Tribune reported, “Toyota, Fiat Chrysler, Nissan, Honda and General Motors all reported strong December and annual U.S. sales early Monday, with Nissan and Honda hitting record numbers for the year.”

Ford was the top selling domestic automaker in 2014. Industry insiders are predicting final numbers to show about $16.6 million units sold in 2014. That would be an increase of six percent over 2013. Auto sales haven’t been this strong since before the recession. Early predictions for this year are in the neighborhood of 17 million sales, which would approach the record of 17.3 million set back in the year 2000.

The Chrysler division of Daimler saw a 53 percent jump in December sales. The Jeep division of the automaker also had strong 2014, with a 41 percent increase in sales, while the Ram division showed an increase of 28 percent over 2013. Audi and Volkswagen both saw a 15 percent increase in sales in 2014. General Motors reported a 5 percent increase in sales over 2013. A spokesman for Kurt McNeil, the Vice President of Sales Operations at GM, said in a statement that it took the right conditions for an excellent year for retail automotive. McNeil said, “Everything you need to have a great month was in place: Consumers felt good about the direction of the economy, interest rates and fuel prices were low, and our dealers did a great job introducing customers to our incredible range of new and redesigned vehicles.”

Tesla Motors, the electric car company based out of California, saw a very strong December, with a 190 percent increase from December 2013 (2200 from 760) and an a 25 percent gain overall (21,090 to 26,400). However, Tesla estimates their total deliveries for 2014 will actually be around 33,000 vehicles. According to Green Car Reports, electric vehicles certainly saw a rise in 2014, with overall sales rising above 100,000. The Nissan Leaf, the highest selling electric in the world, set a United States record for plug-in electrics with 30,200 vehicles sold. Other notable plug-in electric sales numbers include 18,808 for the Chevy Volt and 6,092 delivered units of the BMW i3. However, for that particular BMW electric vehicle was only on sale for eight months of 2014.

One of the factors that may have helped with an increase in vehicle sales during 2014 is a large drop in prices at the pump. AAA reports that during January 2014 the average price of gas was $3.28 per gallon, while the national average as of the beginning of January 2015 is $2.20 per gallon. Analysts have partially explained the rise in auto sales to the lower cost of gas. One example is that with lower fees for filling up, consumers are able to more easily justify an SUV or truck purchase. While some have predicted lower gas prices would hurt electric car sales, it’s clear from the 2014 numbers that plummeting fuel prices falling clearly didn’t impact Tesla sales.

For dealers, conditions seem to be very positive. With low gas prices, an arguably improving economy and vehicle upgrades in areas such as in in-car technology and self-driving car safety, 2015 could be another very strong year for retail automotive. The question is what are you doing at your store to take advantage of the situation? What training are you providing your staff to make the most of this sales environment? Do you think gas pries will stay low and sales will continue to flourish into 2015?