February U.S. auto sales: Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, Mazda, Volvo advance; Toyota, Honda slip

Toyota said it had 134,361 cars and lights trucks in U.S. dealer inventory, at ports or in transit at the close of February, up slightly from 130,315 at the end of January and 110,674 a year ago.

Honda Motor Co. reported a 1.4 percent decline in February results, with the Honda division down 3 percent but Acura volume rising 12 percent, its second straight monthly gain.

Three of the Honda brand’s five biggest sellers posted double-digit declines last month: Accord, down 18 percent; CR-V, up 5.9 percent; Pilot, down 11 percent; Civic, up 2.3 percent; and HR-V, down 37 percent.

A Honda spokesman said the company ended February with roughly 33,000 cars and light trucks on the ground, or just a 12-day supply.

Honda said sales of several redesigned core models — CR-V, Accord and Pilot — are still temporarily constrained by supply and logistics, with vehicles now heading to dealers with an anticipated boost to March deliveries. 

Deliveries at Hyundai last month rose 8.8 percent to 57,044, a February record, the company said, with retail sales rising 1 percent to 52,932, and fleet accounting for 7.2 percent of overall volume, or 4,112 units.

Hyundai said Wednesday it ended February with 54,156 vehicles in U.S. stockpiles, up 20 percent from 45,158 at the close of January and 190 percent from 18,621 a year earlier.

“We’ve got really good momentum in a very, very challenging year,” said Randy Parker, CEO of Hyundai Motor America, referring to the unfavorable impact of higher interest rates on consumer financing and the ongoing challenge of sporadic inventory. “We’re not quite back to normalcy at this point in time. Our strategy is to continue to focus on retail and support our dealer partners, but as production continues to improve, we will support our fleet channel.”

Volume rose 24 percent to a February record of 60,859 at Kia, with major gains for the Forte, Sportage, Sorento, Telluride and Carnival.

Eric Watson, vice president of sales operations at Kia America, said rising production and inventory levels are allowing the automaker to “fully capitalize” on demand.