February U.S. auto sales expected to fall double digits as chip shortage lingers

Continued production cuts related to the ongoing semiconductor shortage are expected to again depress February U.S. auto sales.

Deliveries of new vehicles this month are down an estimated 10 to 11 percent from a year earlier, according to forecasts from Cox Automotive, TrueCar, J.D. Power and LMC Automotive. Retail sales are projected to drop 5.7 percent from February 2021 to 922,100, J.D. Power and LMC said.

Automakers will begin reporting their February results on Tuesday. Fewer than a dozen brands still report sales on a monthly basis, including Toyota, Hyundai, Honda and Ford.

February is traditionally one of the year’s slower sales months even when inventory is plentiful. But a lack of chips has left little to choose from on dealership lots, and industry experts don’t anticipate that will change anytime soon.

“With retail inventory on pace to finish a fourth consecutive month below 900,000 units and ninth consecutive month below one million units, the new-vehicle supply situation is not displaying signs of near-term improvement,” Thomas King, president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power, said in a statement. “Therefore, sales in February are being determined by the number of vehicles delivered to dealerships rather than reflecting actual consumer demand.”