Toyota slides; Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, Mazda rack up U.S. sales gains

Honda Motor Co. snapped a 17-month losing streak, Toyota Motor Corp. volume dropped 15 percent and Hyundai and Kia racked up another month of U.S. sales gains in January on improved inventory levels, higher fleet volume and electric-vehicle demand.

Toyota, hampered by some of the industry’s lowest inventory levels, said deliveries dropped 17 percent at the Toyota division and 0.9 percent at Lexus, the luxury brand’s 12th straight decline.

Five of Toyota’s top sellers – Corolla, Camry, RAV4, 4Runner and Highlander – posted declines of 15 percent or more.  Toyota and Lexus each had less than a 30-day supply of vehicles last month, according to Cox Automotive data. 

Toyota said fleet represented about 10.5 percent of total sales last month, in line with the company’s target of an 8 to 10 percent mix. The automaker said it ended January with 130,315 cars and light trucks in inventory – most of it at ports or in transit, up from 116,201 at the end of December and 125,423 at the close of January 2022.

Honda Motor Co., also saddled with low stockpiles in wake of the severe chip shortage, said January volume rose 14 percent, behind a gain of 10 percent at the Honda division and 66 percent at Acura.  The company said Honda brand inventory on hand more than doubled last month compared to January 2022, helping “to overcome the impact of winter storms.” Sales of the Accord jumped 42 percent and CR-V deliveries surged 49 percent, Honda said.

Volume last month rose 8.6 percent to 52,001 at Hyundai and 22 percent to 51,983 at Kia, the companies said Wednesday. It was the sixth consecutive month of year over year gains for the two brands, with Hyundai edging Kia by just 18 vehicles in January.

Hyundai said retail sales rose 1 percent to 48,247 last month. The company said it ended January with 45,158 cars and light trucks in stock, up from 37,379 at the end of December and 18,060 a year ago.

Kia set a January record and said five models – Niro, Sportage, Telluride, Carnival and Forte – also posted record deliveries for the month. Combined deliveries of Kia’s electrified vehicles jumped 128 percent.

Subaru, another brand hindered by lean inventory, said January sales edged up 0.5 percent for its sixth straight monthly gain. The results were aided by record January deliveries of the Crosstrek.

Mazda posted sales of 22,967, a 9 percent increase and the company’s fourth consecutive gain.

Genesis also reported record January sales of 3,905, a 7.3 percent gain.

Ford Motor Co. and Volvo will release January sales results on Thursday. Other automakers release U.S. sales quarterly.

U.S. light-vehicle sales were expected to rise 2.4 percent to 6.5 percent in January based on forecasts from J.D. Power-LMC Automotive, Cox Automotive, S&P Global Mobility and TrueCar. Higher fleet shipments were expected to offset a drop in retail volume, analysts said.

Fleet deliveries were forecast to rise 59 percent to 74 percent to 168,000-183,000 in January from a year earlier, TrueCar, J.D. Power and LMC Automotive estimate. As the chip shortage eases, automakers are ramping up output and filling a backlog of orders from rental operators and other commercial and government customers.

Automakers are counting on continued pent-up demand in the wake of tight but improving inventories to drive sales higher this year, after industry volume slumped 8 percent to 13.865 million in 2022.

Chris Hopson, principal analyst at S&P Global Mobility, said consumers face an uncertain purchase environment as 2023 unfolds.

“While positive developments regarding mildly retreating vehicle prices and rising pockets of inventory bode well, interest rates remain high and economic headwinds persist,” said Hopson.

Affordability, driven by elevated transaction prices, also remains a hurdle. J.D. Power and LMC Automotive estimate the average new-vehicle retail transaction price in January will reach $46,437, a 4.2 percent increase from January 2022, but a decline from a record high of $47,362 in December.

“Consumers continue to face rising new-vehicle prices across the industry,” said TrueCar analyst Zack Krelle. “However, the pace has slowed as inventory for many high-demand vehicles grows. Fewer vehicles are seeing markups, particularly for import brands which faced pronounced scarcity during the peak of the shortages.”