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
Second quarter real growth in GDP was revised down to 2% from the 2.1% originally reported, but consumer spending was revised higher. Consumer spending: The consumer was also alive and well and spending in July before trade-induced market anxieties and yield curve inversions took center stage in August. New and existing home sales were stronger in … Continued
UPDATE (09/03/19): After reaching Category 5 strength over the weekend and severely impacting parts of the Bahamas, forecasts now predict Hurricane Dorian will steer in a more northern direction and not directly hit Florida. By staying off-shore and following the coastline, Hurricane Dorian is not expected to impact the auto industry when it comes to damages … 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
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
ATLANTA, Aug. 28, 2019 – Cox Automotive is forecasting U.S. new-vehicle sales volume in August to finish at 1.59 million, up 6.5% from last year, or an increase of nearly 100,000 units. The seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), however, is expected to drop to 16.5 million, below July’s 16.8 million level, and down from August 2018’s … 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
Last week was a light one for new economic data, but the news on home sales this summer looks encouraging with the pace of sales finally seeing gains year over year as a result of lower mortgage rates. U.S.-China trade: The problem for last week was additional actions taken by China and threats from the U.S. … 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
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
