January U.S. auto sales will be confirmed by many automakers on Tuesday, and the Cox Automotive Industry Insights team is forecasting healthy numbers. Our forecast, shared last week, calls for volume of approximately 1.1 million vehicles, down from a year ago, but moving at a good pace similar to last month. The January seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) is expected to … Continued
The downward trend in new daily COVID-19 cases continues, but new variants are raising concerns. The economy grew in the fourth quarter. Consumer spending slowed, savings grew, and consumer confidence improved. Economy grows: The first estimate of fourth quarter 2020 real GDP growth came in at 4.0% (annualized), less than the 4.2% expected. Based on … Continued
Little new information emerged from the Fed today as they issued their official statement following their first meeting of 2021. The biggest change in the official statement was acknowledging that “… the pace of the recovery in economic activity and employment has moderated in recent months.” The Fed is clearly staying on course with its … 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 downward trend in new daily COVID-19 cases continues. Hospitalizations and deaths are on the decline as well. The pandemic risk remains at the highest level for much of the country, but conditions should improve as the month ends. On the economic side, joblessness remains high but is not continuing to rise, consumer sentiment rose … Continued
A whopping 2.9 million pickups were sold in the U.S. last year, making up roughly 20% of the entire auto market. While electric vehicles (EV) receive significant consumer and media attention, they remain a very small portion of new-vehicle sales each month. That may well change, though, as a new breed of full-size EV pickups … Continued
Used-vehicle inventory and prices climbed throughout December, with the average list price smashing another record, according to a Cox Automotive analysis of vAuto Available Inventory data. 2.68M Total Unsold Used Vehicles as of Dec. 1 55 Days’ Supply $22,087 Average Listing Price 66,387 Average Miles The total U.S. supply of unsold used vehicles closed December … 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
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: “It could have been worse.” With a solid second half and great effort by U.S. auto dealers, 2020 finished with sales of 14.5 million. Fleet took a beating, but retail sales stayed strong. In fact, we left 2020 with momentum. Auto sales in the final month of … Continued
Given the ongoing turbulence in the automotive marketplace, the Cox Automotive Economic & Industry Insights team is publishing its mid-month view of the wholesale market, including wholesale prices. The posted material provides commentary and an updated look at the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index and general information on segment performance for the first 15 days … Continued