N. American auto assemblies rose in February

North American auto assemblies gained ground in February, rising more than 8% vs. January, but still down more than 4% year on year (y/y), according to GlobalData.

After repeated seasonal declines to close out 2025, assembly numbers rallied through February. But numbers remain a bit muted to kick off 2026, totaling the lowest output in three years.

February’s production total was more than 4% below 2025’s monthly average of 1.26 million units.

Background

Recall the Trump administration first imposed a 25% tariff on all imported light vehicles last April. By May, the same 25% duty applied to auto parts.

Spring buying surged as a result. It front-loaded consumer demand. That momentum tapered through summer but recovered through Q3 and into Q4 before tailing off to close out 2025. These inconsistencies underline the strain tariffs have had on North American auto production—impacting costs and disrupting cross-border supply chains.

North American vehicle production, including personal and commercial vehicles, totaled 1.207 million units in February, up 8.3% from January’s 1.114 million units, but down 4.4% from the 1.263 million units produced a year earlier.

Figure 1 below provides a five-year snapshot of North American light-vehicle production since 2020 on a rolling 12-month basis with a y/y growth rate. Also included is a five-year snapshot of average monthly production, which includes seasonality since 2016.

A short-term snapshot of assembly by nation and vehicle type is shown in the table below. It breaks down total North American personal and commercial vehicle production into US, Canadian, and Mexican components. It also includes the three- and 12-month growth rates for each and their momentum change.

For the three months and 12 months through February, the growth rate for total personal production in the USMCA region saw a small gain, due to an early recovery to start the year. Commercial production had seen some growth in past months, but recent cuts have seen output lag noticeably in the near-term and vs. year-ago levels.

Personal vehicle production

The longer-term picture of personal vehicle production across North America is shown below. The charts in Figure 2 show the total personal vehicle production for North America and the total for the US, Canada, and Mexico.

In terms of personal vehicle production, this segment saw a 4% month-over-month (m/m) gain in February. Assemblies last month totaled 883,071 units, up from 848,727 units in January. But that’s still about 3.5% below a year earlier.

The US saw a 2.6% m/m production increase, with 34,344 more units in February. Canada rose, producing 11,117 (+16.1%) additional units, while Mexico was up marginally, producing 8,769 (+4.1%) more units.

Production share across North America was little changed. The US’ personal vehicle production share of the North American market was 67.1%, followed by Mexico and Canada at 24.1% and 8.8%, respectively.

Commercial vehicle production

Total commercial vehicle production in North America and the total for each country within the region are shown in Figure 3 on a rolling three-month basis. Commercial vehicle production in the US and Mexico, as well as their y/y growth rates and the production share for each nation in North America, are also shown.

North American commercial vehicle production was also up in February, but at a much sharper rate. The region saw a 21.9% m/m surge, with a total of 323,955 units, up from 265,676 units in January. February’s output was still 6.9% below last year.

The US saw a 39.6% m/m boost, with 60,950 additional commercial vehicles assembled in February, but still 7.8% behind y/y. Mexico saw a marginal 0.2% (+205 units) gain vs. January, and a total assembly of 101,472 units in February. That’s still 0.1% less vs. year-ago levels. Canada saw commercial assemblies decline m/m in February at a sharp rate, down 27.8%, or 2,876 fewer units.

The market share across the region was also largely unchanged in September. The US total share was 64.1%, followed by Mexico with 32.8% and Canada with 3.1%.

Mexico exports roughly 85% of its light-vehicle production, with the US and Canada as the highest-volume destinations.

Editor’s note

This report is based on data from GlobalData for automotive assemblies in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The breakdown of assemblies is “Personal” (cars for personal use) and “Commercial” (light vehicles with less than 6.0 metric tons gross vehicle weight rating; heavy trucks and buses are not included).

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.