An analysis by the Cox Automotive Industry Insights team indicates General Motors continues to have ample supply of new vehicles to sell, despite a strike and work stoppage that has entered its fourth week. According to Cox Automotive estimates, GM’s September sales were down by just over 11%, generally in line with the overall market. … Continued
By volume, U.S. auto sales in September were weak, with the overall market down 11% from year-ago levels. One bright spot was fleet sales: Combined rental, commercial, and government purchases of new vehicles were down only 7.3%, beating the overall market. The commercial fleet channel performed particularly well, up 18% year over year in September, … Continued
As 2019 continues to deliver strong new vehicle sales, we’re seeing a consistent transition from general incentive offers to more specific discounts, which is driving record volume of incentive programs being offered to consumers and dealers (see chart below). This transition is indicative of an industry moving from fewer, broad-brush offers to many, very specific … Continued
Sales of certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles increased 11% year over year in August and were up 10% versus July. The increase was primarily driven by the shifted calendar which brought an extra selling day (including Labor Day) into last month. For the month, 260,725 CPO units were sold. Over 1.9 million CPO vehicles have been … Continued
Electric vehicles (EV) might receive significant consumer and media attention, but they only represent a small portion of new-vehicle sales each month. That is expected to dramatically change over the next 5-10 years as OEMs invest their research, development and product planning into electric vehicles. And while EV supply is expected to increase, consumer adoption … Continued
A look at year-to-date new car prospect traffic on Autotrader.com compared to the same period last year shows the top five growth segments (among 17 mainstream segments) in share of overall traffic are all small to midsize SUVs and trucks. It’s no surprise given the general rise in popularity of SUVs and trucks, and as shopper interest … Continued
Combined rental, commercial and government purchases of new vehicles were up 23% year over year in August, and up 18% month over month. The commercial (+10%) and rental (+45%) fleet channels were up in August. Automakers like Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, General Motors and Nissan all achieved notable gains in fleet sales. Fleet sales are now up 7% … Continued
Our team continues to track an elevated number of incentives programs this year, a trend we saw again in August as volume came in ahead of year-ago levels. With inventory up and sales slowing, the higher raw number of programs we’ve followed each month in 2019 is mostly a result of automakers being smarter with … Continued
The top 10 new luxury and non-luxury retail models registered in the first half of this year show a clear consumer focus on utility vehicles and pickup trucks. Of the top 10 luxury and top 10 non-luxury vehicles sold at retail and registered through end of June, were sport-utility vehicles, three were pickup trucks and … Continued
Annual per capita miles driven in the United States has plateaued since the Great Recession. In the mid-2000s miles driven peaked at around 13,200 per capita (population aged 16+) then decreased every year between 2006 and 2014. A tepid, flat-income economic recovery combined with historically higher fuel prices significantly increased the real cost of operating … Continued