August 2019 U.S. auto sales came in slightly higher than forecast, marking another solid month for the industry. The seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) was 17.0 million units. Volume was helped by a good Labor Day weekend, strong fleet sales and also a healthy dose of incentives. We’ve shared top-level takeaways from August sales. … Continued
The United Auto Workers union’s contract with General Motors as well as Ford and Fiat Chrysler expires at 11:59 pm Saturday, Sept. 14. The union has chosen GM as its strike target, negotiating a contract with GM as a general pattern before moving onto the other Detroit automakers. If a strike occurs, GM has enough … Continued
Wholesale used vehicle prices (on a mix-, mileage-, and seasonally adjusted basis) increased 0.62% month-over-month in August. This brought the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index to 141.3, a 1.2% increase from a year ago and a record high for the Index.After seeing stability in July in weekly Manheim Market Report (MMR) prices, depreciation returned in … Continued
Kelley Blue Book’s Senior Managing Editor Matt DeLorenzo writes This Week in Car Buying, a weekly column on KBB.com. In this week’s news, Matt gives us tells us about Fiat is lowering the curtain on its 500 and 500e city cars as it announced it will no longer produce the diminutive hatchbacks for North America. If you … Continued
Our August U.S. auto sales forecast called for the month to finish at 1.59 million, up 6.5% from last year, or an increase of nearly 100,000 units. Several of the reporting automakers posted numbers above our forecast with numerous models achieving “best-ever August” sales. As mentioned in our forecast, the market benefited from an extra selling day, Labor … Continued
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is ending production of the Fiat 500 and electric 500e in North America – with good reason. FCA said it will wind down production of the models at its plant in Toluca, Mexico, and sell off the remainder of the inventory, a process that likely will go into next year. Sales of … Continued
As expected, the United Auto Workers union chose General Motors as its strike target in the current negotiations for a national contract to replace the one that expires September 14. As a result, the UAW will focus its negotiations with GM. Once those negotiations are completed, the union will turn its attention to Ford and … Continued
How will new-car dealers and their manufacturing partners reduce bloated inventory on dealer lots? We’ll get a hint this coming weekend, as the Labor Day holiday puts focus on the trifecta of new-vehicle incentive strategies for clearing lots of older models. Right now, dealers are juggling 2018 (reported to be 3.5% of new-vehicle sales last … Continued
Tesla headlined the luxury vehicle story again in the second quarter of 2019 in terms of shopping consideration, consumer perception and ultimately sales, according to the Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch ™ for luxury vehicles. Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch is a consumer perception survey that also weaves in consumer shopping behavior to determine how a … Continued
Four major automakers recently announced they had agreed to voluntarily meet California’s tougher fuel economy standards, while the Environmental Protection Agency attempts to weaken federal fuel economy rules. BMW, Ford, Honda and Volkswagen have said they will increase the fuel economy of their fleets under California rules, which are looser than those proposed by the … Continued