A few lucky in lackluster February auto sales

Maybe you couldn't tell with the snow on the ground, but some people were buying new cars and trucks last month, also slower than hoped for by many.

Overall February auto sales were lackluster, but strong sales of certain vehicles, Jeep, Nissan and Subaru were proof that are for sale some models, even in bad weather.

Jeep and the Grand Cherokee

New Grand Cherokee Jeep is racking up some big numbers. Sales last month year on year, and she 21 percent to 34 percent so far in 2014 has risen.

Two things make the Grand Cherokee a hot model.

First, the redesigned SUV is an enormous improvement over the previous model, which was tired, searches, and fought to compete in the category. Since the new version rolled out in October, Jeep has supplied a model to win over SUV buyers.

Secondly demand for SUVs, fueled largely by moderate gas prices. Do not be surprised, if Grand Cherokee sales rise this spring, when the weather is warmer, and the showroom traffic increased.

Leaf makes it 12 months in a row

For the 12 month just, Nissan boosted sales of the leaf all-electric. February amounted to sales by 118 percent compared to February last year. This year, sales of electric cars have more than doubled, thanks to a one-two punch, which makes it now far more attractive than a year ago.

In January 2013, Nissan cut the leaf price of $6,400. In the meantime, it improves marketing of leaf, thought there are looking for a "green" small car on the shopping list of those. The value of marketing is not overemphasize.

Look at the Chevy Volt, which received not much advertising support from General Motors. Although GM often quickly points out it's not fair to compare the Volt and leaf - is one electric car, while the other is all-electric, and they sell a range at different price points - are Volt sales by 23 percent this year.

Subaru Forester quietly racking up sales

The new Subaru Forester shows that a revised crossover utility vehicle has to combine a good chance with the buyers. It also doesn't hurt that the CUV to earn safety pick rating from the Insurance Institute for highway safety was only such model a top.

It is always a struggle to determine exactly how much a strong performance in crash tests will help spur sales, but it is clear that Subaru is more and more attention the following festivals from the IIHS, and most recently by consumer reports and Kelley Blue Book reports.

Forester sales jumped 95 percent last month compared to February 2013, and they are so far above 78% in 2014.

Subaru is a conservative car manufacturers, so it will be interesting to see how much it drives marketing of the Forester in this spring.

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Big uptick in sales for small cars in February

Paul Sakuma / AP

Sales of the Chrysler 200 midsize sedan more than quadrupled from a year earlier, while sales of its 300 full-size sedans rose more than five times.

UPDATED 4:45 p.m.. ET: The auto industry's sales gains just keep rolling on.

Many automakers reported strong sales for February as Americans snapped up smaller cars to offset high gas prices.

Companies from Ford to Volkswagen reported double-digit increases in U.S. sales last month. Even General Motors, which pulled back on big discounts, eked out a slight gain.

The results show that industry is on pace for a third straight year of improving sales after bottoming in 2009 during the financial crisis. Carmakers see several encouraging trends. The average car on U.S. roads is now a record 10.8 years, so there is an increasing need to replace older vehicles. Credit availability is improving, bringing more people back into the market. Japanese automakers have largely recovered from last year's earthquake and now have more cars to sell. And consumer confidence rose dramatically in February, making people more likely to consider a big-ticket purchase.

Sales were strong in January, and February is looking equally good. After all major car companies report their results Thursday, analysts expect sales of 1.1 million cars and trucks for the month.

Based on those strong results, the consulting firm LMC Automotive predicts sales of 14 million this year, up from an earlier forecast of 13.8 million. Last year's sales reached 12.8 million.

Chrysler's February sales rose 40 percent from a year earlier as it sold nearly 134,000 new cars and trucks. All of its brands showed at least double-digit increases. Chrysler was helped by an easy comparison with last February, when sales were relatively low because many of its revamped models were just arriving in showrooms.

CNBC's Phil LeBeau has the numbers that show a strong February for the automaker.

Chrysler's tiny Fiat 500 had its best sales month ever, thanks in part to rising demand for more fuel-efficient cars. But the Ram pickup also saw sales climb 21 percent. Sales of the Chrysler 200 midsize sedan more than quadrupled from a year earlier, while sales of its 300 full-size sedans rose more than five times.

Ford sales rose 14 percent, mostly on demand for the Focus compact car. Focus sales more than doubled to 23,350, making it the best February for the Focus in 12 years.

Most of Ford's other cars saw sales declines, in part because the newer Focus pulled sales from them. Ford also saw a 26-percent increase in sales of the F-Series pickup, helped by cash-back deals and other incentives.

Volkswagen sales rose 42 percent, led by the redesigned Passat midsize sedan. And Nissan sales were up 15.5 percent.

Gas prices — which are up 45 cents since Jan. 1 and now average $3.73 per gallon — are causing a pronounced shift to smaller cars.

At GM, sales of the Chevrolet Cruze compact rose 10 percent to top 20,000 for the month, while the new Chevy Sonic subcompact saw its best sales month ever at almost 8,000. The strength of those sales helped General Motors, which was expected to see sales drop, report a 1 percent increase.

Erich Merkle, Ford's top U.S. sales analyst, says small cars made up around 19 percent of industry sales in December. That rose to 21 percent in January and could go as high as 24 percent in February, he said.

Consumers continued to pay higher prices for cars in February, mainly because they're buying well-equipped small cars, according to the TrueCar.com automotive website.

Vehicles sold for an average of $30,605 last month, up almost 7 percent from a year earlier, TrueCar said.

CNBC's Phil LeBeau has General Motors sales numbers from February.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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