Press Coverage
Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist at Cox Automotive Discusses Q1 Sales and the State of Automotive Retail
Tuesday April 9, 2019
Article Highlights
- In Q1, Jonathan Smoke saw something big that impacted the sales trend and that’s interest rates.
- Even though mortgage rates are now lower than they were a year ago, auto loan rates actually marginally went up. And of course, because they’re related to short-term interest rates, the interest that dealers pay on inventory floorplan interest rates did not come down either.
- Tariffs remain the ultimate wildcard. And ironically it sort of remains the only hope for having a few robust months of sales this year. Because if tariffs get implemented people will rush to buy ahead of the tariff and that produces a much stronger market.
CBT News, April 9, 2019 — First quarter sales data has recently been released for the auto retail industry, and there are several trends that indicate some headwinds and tailwinds for the rest of the year. Here to talk in-depth about what dealers can expect from the Q1 sales is Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for Cox Automotive. In today’s segment, Smoke and Bridget Fitzpatrick discuss sales data, how tax refunds are impacting the market, interest rates and potential tariffs.
To find out where Smoke thinks dealers should be focusing to grow their business, watch here
To learn more, click here to watch a replay of the Q1 Cox Automotive Sales Call hosted by Jonathan and Zo Rahim, manager of economics and market insights for Cox Automotive.