U.S. light vehicle production rebounded in June

CSM Worldwide, a provider of market intelligence and forecasting to the automotive industry, has released its July 2005 CSM Automotive Production Barometer™ which shows that U.S. light vehicle production rebounded in June.

U.S. light vehicle production rebounded in June to 1.06 million units produced, up 6.4 percent over last month and 2.6 percent on a year-over-year basis. On a seasonally adjusted basis, production increased a solid 4.6 percent to 11.57M units compared to May's weak results and also climbed 2.7percent year-over-year. The Big 3 manufacturers continued to institute downtime across their operations in North America, this time affecting mid-size pickup and SUV production. Full-size SUVs and pickups continue to show weakness, but GM's employee pricing sales program managed to draw from its bloated inventories and bring them down to reasonable levels. Significant production increases for GM full-size trucks are not expected as it prepares to launch the redesigned GMT900-based SUVs later this year and into 2006.

Production through June in the U.S. continues to lag last year's results, with output falling 3.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 11.47M units produced year-to-date. North American production slipped 0.5 percent to 15.86M units in June year-over-year on a seasonally adjusted basis and remains down 2.8 percent to 15.49M units through June. North American production increased 4.6percent over last month. U.S. production is expected to drop next month because of the summer shutdown for vacation and model changeovers.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, output at GM and Ford fell 14.3 percent and 3.5 percent respectively, while output at DaimlerChrysler grew 7.5 percent year-over-year. GM began producing the redesigned Chevrolet Impala and new HHR in June, while DCX continues to show strength with the LX-based Chrysler 300 and new Dodge Charger in addition to the Pacifica, Town & Country, and Caravan. Ford expects to make inroads in the highly competitive mid-size sedan segment with the all-new Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln Zephyr, which enter production in August. On an equally adjusted basis, North American production in June for Toyota, Nissan and Honda facilities continued to grow, with output climbing 5.2 percent, 19.7 percent, and 25.4 percent year-over-year respectively. Noteworthy performers include Toyota's redesigned Tacoma and Avalon, Nissan's Pathfinder and Altima, and Honda has added incremental volume with the Ridgeline pickup and is preparing to launch a revised Accord and all-new Civic later this summer.