News Coverage
Experts Differ on What Current Consumer Confidence Really Means
Monday May 13, 2019
Article Highlights
- While a pair of surveys that measure consumer confidence each month demonstrated some upbeat feelings, the team at Cox Automotive is taking a more cautious approach, especially after reviewing tax-refund information from the IRS.
- “First-quarter real GDP growth was much better than expected at 3.2%, but it wasn’t a result of consumer spending or business investment,” Cox Automotive said. “A build-up of inventories, temporary improvement in net exports and weak inflation made weak consumer spending look better than it really was.
- “Growth in business investment also declined,” Cox Automotive continued. “The confusing numbers make the start of the year look better than it really was, but they also set us up for worse numbers next quarter. We could have the weakest second quarter since 2013, which only managed to produce 0.5% growth.”
Subprime, May 13, 2019 — We’re nearly halfway through the second quarter, and experts are seeing varying trends about whether consumers are prepared to commit to buying a vehicle at your dealership and financing the purchase through your finance company.
While a pair of surveys that measure consumer confidence each month demonstrated some upbeat feelings, the team at Cox Automotive is taking a more cautious approach, especially after reviewing tax-refund information from the IRS.
First, let’s consider two measures of consumer confidence.