February new-vehicle sales are expected to rise over year-earlier numbers, according to a J.D. Power/GlobalData forecast.

It said combined retail and nonretail sales should be up 1.4% year-over-year to 1.2 million units.

This February has one more selling day than last February due to this year being a leap year.

The report put the seasonally adjusted annual rate, or SAAR, at 15.4 million units, up 0.4 million year-over-year.

Retail sales alone are also forecast to increase this month to more than 981,000 units, up about 4%.

J.D. Power said the sales surge is happening due to revived inventory and manufacturer incentives and lowered retailer profit margin. But even with those shifts, “retail customers will still spend more on new vehicles this month than in any other February on record,” said its data and analytics division president, Thomas King.

Retailer profit per unit, is forecast to fall 31% year-over-year to $2,574, according to the forecast.

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