Cox Automotive’s Auto Market Report video delivers a comprehensive analysis of the current automotive market. Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke leads our effort to translate data and trends into actionable insights. This video covers a wide range of topics, including consumer spending patterns, consumer sentiment, retail vehicle sales, financing rates, supply dynamics, pricing trends and leading … Continued
Key Highlights: Inflation Inflation accelerated in June, with the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) up 2.7% year over year. The CPI data reflects early signs of inflation reacceleration tied to tariffs. Retail Sales Retail sales grew more than expected in June, with growth in most categories. Adjusting for inflation, retail sales were still higher year … Continued
Key Highlights: New-Vehicle Sales and Pricing The new-vehicle seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) declined in June, but the retail SAAR increased and was higher than a year ago. Consumers are price-sensitive, so incentives are increasing again, and discounting is on the rise to keep retail sales moving. Prices were up modestly in June. Used-Vehicle Market … Continued
Cox Automotive’s Auto Market Report video delivers a comprehensive analysis of the current automotive market. Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke leads our effort to translate data and trends into actionable insights. This video covers a wide range of topics, including consumer spending patterns, consumer sentiment, retail vehicle sales, financing rates, supply dynamics, pricing trends and leading … Continued
Key Highlights: Employment The employment report for June was better than expected. The report did not indicate any problems with mounting job losses, but labor force participation and wage growth were both down, indicating that workers do not have much bargaining power. New-Vehicle Sales The new-vehicle seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) declined in June, just … Continued
Key Highlights: GDP The decline in real GDP in the first quarter was revised to a larger 0.5% decline in the third and final estimate, but the decline was mainly an accounting technicality based on surging imports. Personal Income and Spending Consumer spending decelerated to a decline in May. Year-over-year measures of inflation, which the … Continued
Cox Automotive’s Auto Market Report video delivers a comprehensive analysis of the current automotive market. Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke leads our effort to translate data and trends into actionable insights. This video covers a wide range of topics, including consumer spending patterns, consumer sentiment, retail vehicle sales, financing rates, supply dynamics, pricing trends and leading … Continued
Key Highlights: Retail Sales Retail sales in May declined more than expected, driven mainly by declining vehicle sales. Adjusting for inflation, retail sales were still higher year over year. New Construction Residential construction declined in May as permits and starts both fell. Multi-family shows more promise for near-term growth. The Fed The Fed remains on … Continued
The Fed left monetary policy unchanged today at the conclusion of its fourth scheduled Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of 2025. This was the fourth consecutive no-change decision this year, but this meeting featured souring forecasts with lower economic growth, higher inflation, and higher unemployment. Their median expectation remains for two rate cuts in … Continued
Key Highlights: Inflation Inflation data has yet to show much of an impact from tariffs, as the consumer price index (CPI) was softer than expected again in May. On a year-over-year basis, core CPI was steady at 2.8% while the overall CPI increased to 2.4% from 2.3% in April, which had been the lowest year-over-year … Continued