ford-edge_sport_2011_1024x768_wallpaper_01Analysts were expecting auto sales to have a SAAR of 16.6 millon and that is pretty much what we saw.  Overall sales for January of 2015 were 1,147,250.  This was a nice boost over the 1.09 million we saw 2014 start off with.  With a good start in January, we can anticipate that sales could climb as high as 17 million this year.

For SiriusXM, increasing car sales is always a good sign.  The satellite radio provider garners most of its subscribers and exposure from people buying new cars that are equipped with satellite radio.  About two thirds of all new cars incorporate satellite radio technology.

SiriusXM gets three distinct groups of subscribers from new car sales.  One group are manufacturers that pay during manufacture and thus these cars are counted as subscribers as they roll off of the assembly line.  A second group are cars whose manufacturers pay for a trial subscription when the consumer buys a car.  these paid trials are counted as subscribers.  the last group are cars where there is no payment made for the trial period.  These cars are not counted as subscribers during the trial period.

In January of 2015 we saw 38% of the cars sold from the manufacture group, 13% from the time of sale group, and 49% from the group where trial subscriptions are not counted.

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The sales leader for January was GM, followed by Ford, Toyota, and Chrysler.  All of these manufacturers offer trials and install a high number of satellite radios.  As we move into February, we should anticipate higher sales.  last year February sales were nearly 1.2 million.  It is possible that we see well over 1.3 million cars sold next month.  this could mean that Q1 could see some impressive revenue numbers.  Stay Tuned!