During the Cox Automotive Q1 2021 U.S. Auto Sales webcast held on Monday, March 29, Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke was joined by Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist, and others to provide a deep dive into the economy and U.S. auto industry – the new, used and wholesale vehicle markets for Q1 2021. As part … Continued
Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke and our Industry Insights team hosted the Q1 2021 U.S. Auto Sales Webcast. Check back on the Newsroom to watch the replay if you were unable to attend the live session. This 90-minute session included a deep dive into the economy and the auto industry, providing a thorough look … Continued
The trend in new daily COVID-19 cases is on the rise again as new variants are spreading rapidly in many areas. Economic activity is also increasing, which is likely contributing to the virus spread but is also helping to improve employment conditions. The severe winter storms in February caused home sales and personal spending to … Continued
Tight new-vehicle inventory has been an issue for the industry for nearly a year now, as inventory levels have not fully recovered from production losses in Q2 2020 caused by the pandemic. More recently, in North America, about 30 models are battling production cuts caused by an ongoing global shortage of computer chips. The industry has … Continued
Our Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke joins us once again from his home studio in Atlanta, GA, with the latest on the impacts of COVID-19 on the automotive industry. The latest on COVID-19’s nationwide impact Continuing jobless claims and impacts by state Consumer sentiment in the U.S. and in the largest DMAs Cox Automotive consumer survey … Continued
The trend in new daily COVID-19 cases has stopped declining, but hospitalizations and deaths continue to fall. Improving conditions are leading to rollbacks of restrictions, and economic activity is picking up. But joblessness remains stubbornly high. Jobless claims mixed: The jobless claims data last week were mixed. New initial jobless claims increased. Traditional continuing claims declined by … Continued
Tax season is off to a slow start this year due to pandemic-related impacts and delays the IRS instituted related to when filings were accepted and when refunds would start to be issued. As a result, the current tax return season is well behind prior years, which in turn impacts the year-over-year comparisons we have … Continued
The board of the Federal Reserve Bank met earlier this week and confirmed their decision not to move monetary policy and issued a statement seen by many as optimistic: “… indicators of economic activity and employment have turned up recently, although the sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic remain weak. Inflation continues to run below … Continued
U.S. monetary policy was unchanged today as the Fed issued their official statement following their second meeting of 2021. The biggest changes in the official statement were in this section covering current conditions: “…indicators of economic activity and employment have turned up recently, although the sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic remain weak. Inflation … Continued
Late last month, according to data compiled by Xtime, a Cox Automotive software brand, the service department business at an average dealership was down approximately 8% from year-earlier levels. An 8% drop in business is serious but, in fact, it’s a big improvement from much of 2020. As the pandemic took hold, mileage dropped and … Continued