Auto Sales: GM, Toyota U.S. Sales Rise While Ford, Fiat Chrysler Decline - Investor's Business Daily

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General Motors (GM) and Toyota (TM) saw U.S. auto sales rise in the fourth quarter, while Ford (F), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), Honda (HMC) and Nissan (NSANY) reported quarterly sales declines.

All reported on Tuesday, except for Ford, which released Q4 results early Wednesday.

On Saturday, Tesla (TSLA) reported robust Q4 global deliveries and fell just short of a targeted 500,000 deliveries for 2020.

Analysts at J.D. Power and LMC Automotive forecast the annualized rate for new vehicle sales will reach 16.4 million units in December, down from 16.9 million units in December 2019. They also estimate that 14.5 million new vehicles were sold during 2020, down nearly 15% from 2019.

U.S. auto sales are expected to hit their lowest level since 2011, according to car info site Edmunds. But they are expected to fare far better than originally feared, on the back of retail sales nearly rebounding to pre-pandemic levels in the second half of 2020. Vehicle sales sank 30% or more at the major automakers in Q2 of 2020, after the pandemic forced factories to close.

Here is how GM sales performed vs. Edmunds analysts' expectations, as well as other automakers. The results show sales volume as well as growth or decline vs. a year ago.

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General Motors

Q4 auto sales estimate: 753,811; up 2.4%.

Results: U.S. sales increased 4.8% year over year on the back of strong retail and pickup demand. Sierra truck deliveries rose 14%, while Silverado truck deliveries rose 10%. Truck and SUV sales tend to have higher profit margins than sedans.

For all of 2020, sales fell 11.8%.

"We look forward to an inflection point for the U.S. economy in spring," said GM Chief Economist Elaine Buckberg.

She added: "Widening vaccination rates and warmer weather should enable consumers and businesses to return to a more normal range of activities, lifting the job market, consumer sentiment and auto demand."

GM stock rose nearly 2% in Wednesday's stock market today. On Tuesday, shares rose 2.8%, reclaiming the 50-day moving average.

Fiat Chrysler

Q4 auto sales estimate: 498,042; down 8.2%.
Results: Fiat Chrysler said Q4 U.S. sales shrank 8% to 499,431 vehicles. For the full year, sales dived 17% to 1.82 million. Fiat's top-selling Jeep SUVs and Ram pickup trucks both saw sales decline in Q4 and full-year 2020.

Fiat Chrysler stock fell 3% Wednesday.

Ford Motor

Q4 auto sales estimate: 517,309; down 14%.
Results: Ford's Q4 sales fell 9.8% to 542,749. Trucks dived 12.5% year over year while SUVs gained 4%. Passenger cars sank 41.1% as Ford nearly exits that segment amid the consumer shift to larger vehicles. For the full year, sales fell 15.6% to 2,044,744.

Q4 was a key transition for Ford. Sales of the new F-150 truck began in December. F-series truck sales fell 15.2% for all of Q4. Ford also introduced the Bronco Sport (5,120 units sold in Q4) and the electric Mustang Mach-E crossover (3 units delivered in Q4).

Ford stock rose 1% Wednesday.

Toyota Motor

Q4 sales estimate: 652,940; up 8.1%.
Results: Toyota's Q4 U.S. sales increased 9.4% to 660,715 vehicles. December sales came in at 249,601. For all of 2020, Toyota's U.S. sales fell 11.9% to 2.11 million.

Toyota stock edged up 0.1%, just above a buy range from a Dec. 11 breakout.

Honda Motor

Q4 sales estimate: 365,915; down 9%.
Results: Honda's Q4 sales dropped 8.9% to 366,068 vehicles. For the full year, sales slumped 16.3% to 1,35 million.

Honda stock popped 2% on Wednesday.

Nissan

Q4 sales estimate: 224,231; down 25.6%.
Results: Nissan's Q4 U.S. sales sank 19.3% to 243,133. For the full year, sales plunged 33.2% to 899,217.

Nissan stock climbed 4.2%.

Find Aparna Narayanan on Twitter at @IBD_Aparna

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