December 2019 auto sales came in relatively strong and ahead of many forecasts – a fitting end to a decade that delivered mostly good news for the auto industry. Honestly, though, in the past decade, the only direction possible was up. In 2010, the auto industry was in shambles. The economy had tanked, loans were … Continued
Certified pre-owned (CPO) sales volume set another record in 2019 – marking the ninth consecutive year of record-breaking sales. CPO sales reached 2.80 million vehicles in 2019, up 4% from 2018, exceeding the Cox Automotive forecast of 2.75 million. 2019 was the last big year of growth in off-lease units as we reached a total … Continued
Sales of certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles increased 5% year over year in December. For the month, 235,921 CPO units were sold, down 1% month over month compared to November, which set another CPO sales record for the year. 2019 ended the year with CPO sales up 4% versus 2018, with 2.8 million sales through December and … Continued
It is important to look at average days in inventory for retail used vehicles because as used retail inventory ages, dealers begin to slow wholesale purchases. We took a look back at used-vehicle inventory levels over the past three years. 2019 started with the lowest days in inventory in January with 74 days and ended the … Continued
New-vehicle inventories came in under 4 million units for the eighth consecutive month, ending the year at their lowest levels since September 2015. Days’ supply for December was 56, down 4 days year over year and down 10 days from November. Average car days’ supply came in at 49, down 9 days year over year … Continued
Fleet was the driver of strength in the new-vehicle market for 2019 but continued to cool off in December. Combined rental, commercial, and government purchases of new vehicles were down 0.7% year over year in December. Commercial fleet sales were the strongest segment, up 14% in December. Total fleet volume in December was 220,034, down from … Continued
Wholesale used vehicle prices (on a mix-, mileage-, and seasonally adjusted basis) increased 1.54% month over month in December. This brought the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index to 141.1, a 2.5% increase from a year ago. Following a normalizing trend in weekly Manheim Market Report (MMR) prices at the end of November, December saw stability … Continued
As another data point to monitor the health of the automotive market, Cox Automotive calculates a 13-month rolling used-vehicle seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). According to Cox Automotive estimates, total used-vehicle sales volume was flat year over year in December. We estimate the December used SAAR to be 40 million, on par with last December … Continued
New-vehicle sales were strong in November – strong enough to all but guarantee a full-year sales total for 2019 in the 17-million neighborhood, the fifth year in a row we’ve pushed sales above the magic 17 million mark. We’re in a healthy new-car market right now with the U.S. consumer in the buying mood, energized by … Continued
The number of new vehicles in inventory at the start of December declined after a strong November sales month. New-vehicle inventory for November came in at 3.6 million units, slightly lower than October. It was the seventh consecutive month that the industry’s inventory was below 4 million units. The average days’ supply of all new … Continued