Toyota Motor Corp., the market’s top seller in 2021, posted its smallest decline since August with a 5.1 percent dip last month. It ended January with a 19-day supply of cars and light trucks, or 123,686 vehicles, with 18,345 in dealer stock and 105,341 at ports.
At Hyundai, retail deliveries rose 18 percent, offsetting zero fleet shipments last month.
The company set a January record with 47,872 deliveries largely behind four models — the Venue, up 70 percent; Tucson, up 64 percent; Palisade, up 12 percent; and Ioniq, up 51 percent — that also posted record deliveries for the month.
Hyundai said it ended January with just 18,060 cars and light trucks in stock, down from 21,420 at the close of December and 151,930 at the end of January 2021.
Ford Motor Co. sales were roughly flat compared with January 2021, although retail volume rose 0.8 percent.
Deliveries edged up 1.4 percent at the Ford division but slumped 26 percent at Lincoln. Sales at Ford’s luxury brand have now dropped for eight consecutive months.
The automaker said gross vehicle stocks stood at 202,000 at the end of January — enough for a 34-day supply — down from 243,200 in December and 413,500 in January 2021. Still, Ford noted its inventory position is among the strongest in the industry and pointed to a growing order bank (up 20,000 vehicles since December) and strong interest in its latest models as cause for optimism.
