Edmunds.com Forecasts a Pleasant October Surprise for Honda and Nissan

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Edmunds.com, the premier resource for automotive information, forecasts that 1,132,878 new cars will be sold in October for an estimated Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) this month of 14.8 million light vehicles. October’s SAAR is poised to be the second-highest monthly SAAR of 2012 (behind last month’s rate of 14.9 million) and the best October since the rate of 16.1 million vehicles recorded in 2007.

“Their October sales numbers are under more of a microscope than usual with Election Day around the corner and the auto bailout top of mind for the presidential candidates, many voters and a host of pundits.”

But the biggest October surprises are reserved for Honda and Nissan, which Edmunds.com projects will enjoy their biggest October sales ever in the U.S. Honda’s estimated sales this month are poised to top its previous October high of 114,799 sales in 2007. Meanwhile, Nissan’s projected sales this month could surpass its October record of 86,626 sales in 2004. The results indicate strong performances by the automakers’ popular redesigned models, the 2013 Honda Accord and the 2013 Nissan Altima.

“These record-breaking numbers are a testament to the American car buyer’s appetite for all-new redesigned and refreshed models,” says Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs. “The Accord and Altima have been hits for Honda and Nissan, respectively, for a very long time, and when you can make a good thing even better, the market will absolutely respond.”

SALES VOLUME FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER
Sales Volume	October 2012 Forecast	October 2011	September 2012	Change from October 2011*		Change from September 2012*
GM	195,592	186,895	210,245	4.7	%	-7.0	%
Ford	173,876	167,971	174,454	3.5	%	-0.3	%
Toyota	167,064	134,046	171,910	24.6	%	-2.8	%
Chrysler	129,266	114,357	142,041	13.0	%	-9.0	%
Honda	115,697	98,333	117,211	17.7	%	-1.3	%
Nissan	87,219	81,877	91,907	6.5	%	-5.1	%
Industry	1,132,878	1,019,709	1,188,107	11.1	%	-4.6	%
*NOTE: October 2012 had 26 selling days, October 2011 had 26 and September 2012 had 25

Edmunds.com estimates that October’s projected sales will be a 4.6 percent decrease from September 2012, but an 11.1 percent increase (unadjusted for number of selling days) from October 2011. Retail SAAR will come in at 12.1 million vehicles in October, with fleet transactions accounting for 18.3 percent of total sales. An estimated 3.1 million used cars will be sold in October, for a SAAR of 36.9 million (compared to 3.1 million – or a SAAR of 36.8 million – used car sales in September).

General Motors and Chrysler are expected to be the only two major automakers to see their market shares slip this month, according to Edmunds.com’s forecast. GM’s market share is projected to fall 0.4 percentage points from September to 17.3 percent, but that is attributed to a decline in fleet sales. Retail sales are expected to be slightly up for GM, but the same is not true for Chrysler. Chrysler’s share is expected to slip 0.5 points to 11.4 percent of all cars sold in the U.S.

MARKET SHARE FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER
Market Share	October 2012 Forecast		October 2011		September 2012		Change from Oct 2011 (Percentage pts.)		Change from Sept 2012 (Percentage pts.)
GM	17.3	%	18.3	%	17.7	%	-1.1	%	-0.4	%
Ford	15.3	%	16.5	%	14.7	%	-1.1	%	0.7	%
Toyota	14.7	%	13.1	%	14.5	%	1.6	%	0.3	%
Chrysler	11.4	%	11.2	%	12.0	%	0.2	%	-0.5	%
Honda	10.2	%	9.6	%	9.9	%	0.6	%	0.3	%
Nissan	7.7	%	8.0	%	7.7	%	-0.3	%	0.0	%

“Every automaker can have a bad month, but this isn’t exactly the best timing for GM and Chrysler,” says Krebs. “Their October sales numbers are under more of a microscope than usual with Election Day around the corner and the auto bailout top of mind for the presidential candidates, many voters and a host of pundits.”

More insight into recent auto industry trends can be found in Edmunds.com’s Industry Center at http://www.edmunds.com/industry-center/.

About Edmunds.com, Inc.

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