Analysts see Chrysler up 35 percent over January 2011

(January 27, 2012) SANTA MONICA, Calif. — An estimated 866,655 new cars will be sold in January, for a projected Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 13.4 million units, forecasts Edmunds.com. This sales pace is relatively flat from the 13.5 million SAAR recorded last month, but up from the 12.6 million SAAR from January 2011.

Edmunds.com forecasts that Chrysler will have the biggest year-over-year sales jump of any major automaker in January, climbing 35.1 percent. The growth far outpaces the year-over-year performance of any other Big Six automaker, with Ford coming closest at 9.5 percent. Chrysler also will attain the highest year-over-year market share growth of any top automaker, gaining 2.3 percentage points compared to January 2011.

"Chrysler's momentum has been nothing short of remarkable, especially when it was on its last lifelines as recently as two years ago," said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs. "It's poetic that Chrysler is receiving this well-deserved recognition almost exactly one year after its 'Imported from Detroit' ad campaign debuted during the Super Bowl, which was really the big turning point for the company."

General Motors is expected to have the least growth of any major automaker. Edmunds.com predicts that GM's year-over-year sales will fall 8.9 percent in January, resulting in a three perecentage-point decline in market share. However, Edmunds believes that this decline is in large part due to GM's aggressive incentives push — and resulting sales — in early-2011 that was not repeated in 2012.

SALES VOLUME FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER

Sales Volume Jan-12 Forecast Jan-11 Dec-11 Change from Jan 2011 Change from Dec 2011
GM 163,061 178,901 234,351 -8.9% -30.4%
Ford 138,670 126,645 209,449 9.5% -33.8%
Toyota 120,980 115,856 178,131 4.4% -32.1%
Chrysler 94,733 70,118 138,019 35.1% -31.4%
Nissan 77,640 71,847 100,927 8.1% -23.1%
Honda 75,419 76,268 105,230 -1.1% -28.3%
Industry 866,655 819,097 1,242,971 5.8% -30.3%

*NOTE: January 2011 and 2012 each had 24 sales days