Market Insights and Outlook - Cox Automotive Inc.

Smoke on Cars Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke shares his insights on macroeconomic trends, business cycles, demand and the economic factors influencing the automotive industry today. See Insights ›

Commentary & Voices Our team of analysts and experts share their reactions, insights and unique perspectives on the behaviors, data and industry moves that are affecting the broader automotive business. See Insights ›

Data Point The automotive industry is a data-driven business. These are the data points that our team of experts and analysts find most interesting, offered with insights to explain why it matters and why you should know. See Insights ›

Economy & Trends Dynamic economic factors and market trends continually influence our industry, and Cox Automotive’s economists and analysts provide data analysis, forecasts and reports to enhance the understanding of how these factors affect the automotive marketplace. See Insights ›

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Cox Automotive Market Insights & Outlook Flipbook Available 05/17/2019 The Cox Automotive Economic Industry insights team's goal is to help automotive industry stakeholders make the best decisions for the future. The 2019 Cox Automotive Market Insights & Outlook flipbook makes accessing key data and insights easy. Replacing the hard copy version, this digital format allows readers to quickly find what they are looking for and can be downloaded as a PDF and easily printed. We hope you find this… Read Article

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Repos Remain Stable While Subprime Delinquencies Hit 10-Year High 05/16/2019 In 2018, the auto market benefited from an increase in aggressive auto lending that resulted in growth in subprime lending for the first time since 2015. Auto lending grew by 2.7% last year, supported by a 3.1% gain in subprime dollar volumes. This aggressiveness was encouraged by low defaults and higher recoveries that were related to the strong economy. But even before the year ended, the market began seeing an increase in severe delinquencies. At… Read Article

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April Fleet Sales Decline 24% 05/13/2019 New-vehicle retail sales were down 2% in April, leading to a retail seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 13.5 million units, down from 14.1 million last April. The affordability issue is likely to impact the retail side of the market more than the fleet side which will support gains in fleet share over the course of the year. However, combined rental, commercial and government purchases of new vehicles were… Read Article

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Fleet Sales See Continued Strength, Increase 16% in March 04/10/2019 Like the used market, the new-vehicle market showed weakness in March. March new-vehicle sales were down 2.2% year-over-year, with one less selling day compared to March 2018. However, the March 2019 SAAR came in at 17.5 million, improving versus last year’s 17.2 million. Cars continue to see declines, as sales in March fell 7.9% compared to last year. Light trucks outperformed cars in March, finishing the… Read Article

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2019 Wholesale Volume Through Digital Channels Expected to Increase While In-Lane to Drop Slightly 04/08/2019 The wholesale market plays a central role in facilitating the flow of used vehicle inventory. Like 2018, this year is poised to be a great year for offsite digital volume growth. That does not mean traditional auction volume will collapse, but growth in the flow of vehicles will favor non-tradition channels and not the physical lanes. Dealers do not need to consign as many vehicles when… Read Article

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Fleet Sales Increase More Than 25 Percent in February 03/07/2019 Unlike the used market, the new-vehicle market showed no signs of improvement in February over January. New-vehicle retail sales were down 4 percent in February, leading to a retail SAAR of 13.0 million, down from 13.5 million last February. February new-vehicle total sales were down 2.4 percent year-over-year, with the same number of selling days compared to February 2018. The February total SAAR came in at 16.5 million,… Read Article

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Daily Rental Leads January Fleet Sales Increase 02/06/2019 As expected, U.S. new-vehicle sales in total were down in January compared with a year ago, but they came in a tad higher than many had forecasted. They likely got a bump for more-than-anticipated fleet sales, notably sales to daily rental car companies. Total fleet sales rose 10 percent in January, led by a 16-percent gain to daily rental companies and a nearly 6-percent rise to… Read Article

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Used-Vehicle Sales Finish Strong in 2018; Same Expected for 2019 02/01/2019 Used light-vehicle registrations finished at 39.4 million units in 2018, up 100,000 units from 2017. Cox Automotive expects 2019 to rack up about the same number. Interest rate increases continue to add headwinds, but economic conditions remain favorable and continued economic growth will keep demand for personal transportation strong. Strong consumer demand due to affordability challenges with new vehicles and growth in the supply of off-lease vehicles from the market’s record years of 2015 and… Read Article

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2018 CPO Sales Set Record; Another Possible for 2019 02/01/2019 Certified pre-owned (CPO) sales set a record in 2018, and another stellar year is expected in 2019. CPO sales in 2018 hit 2.70 million vehicles, up 2.1% from 2017, matching Cox Automotive’s forecast. The new high represents the eighth straight year of record-breaking CPO sales. The Cox Automotive forecast for 2019 CPO sales is 2.75 million vehicles as the market looks to set another record. The… Read Article

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New-Vehicle Sales Reach 17.3 million; 2019 Less Rosy 02/01/2019 U.S. sales of new, light vehicles reached nearly 17.2 million vehicles in 2018, marking the fourth best year ever and the fourth consecutive year of 17-million plus sales. Many forecasts, including that of Cox Automotive, predicted year-over-year sales would be slightly lower in 2018 from 2017 due to higher interest rates. Indeed, higher interest rates did hamper retail sales. However, fleet sales offset the retail drop and rose more than forecasted due to a… Read Article

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