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 Industry Update Report: June 2019 06/18/2019 The June 2019 Cox Automotive Industry Update Report shares Cox Automotive’s multifaceted insight into the automotive marketplace to provide an overview of economic indicators, supply, demand, credit and other vital topics and trends affecting the industry. ECONOMIC INDICATORS Job creation in May was much weaker than expected as job creation declined to 75,000 when analysts had expected 175,000. The prior two monthly numbers were also revised… Read Article

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This Week in Car Buying: Deals of the Month; Chevrolet Discounts Bolt EVs; Diesel Debuts; 2019 Fiat 500X Urbana Bows 06/14/2019 Kelley Blue Book’s Senior Managing Editor Matt DeLorenzo writes This Week in Car Buying, a weekly column on KBB.com. In this week’s article, Matt reports on June deals. Kelley Blue Book’s top 10 deals for June include three leases for less than $200 per month and three rebates of at least $4,000. Now that GM has passed the 200,000-unit-sold threshold, its federal tax credit on electrified vehicles has dropped in half to $3,750. However, Chevy is… Read Article

Market Insights Commentary & Voices

vAuto Podcast: Evolution of Auction Purchase Metrics 06/10/2019 What metrics should dealers use to guide their decision-making at auction? On this episode of the vAuto Podcast, Patrick Janes, business development director for Stockwave, joins host Lance Helgeson to discuss three important metrics dealers should use when they go to auctions to make sure they’re bringing home the most profitable cars. Patrick Janes is the business development director for Stockwave and possesses nearly 30 years… Read Article

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Cox Automotive Dealer Sentiment Index – Second Quarter 2019 06/10/2019 Derived from a quarterly survey that Cox Automotive issues to a representative sample of franchise and independent auto dealers, the Cox Automotive Dealer Sentiment Index measures dealer perceptions of current retail auto sales and sales expectations for the next three months as “strong,” “average” or “weak”. The survey also asks dealers to rate new-car sales and used-car sales separately along with a variety of key drivers… Read Article

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This Week in Car Buying: Ford Fusion Here into 2021, Transaction Prices Up, Hertz Launches Subscription Pilot, Dealer Group Launches Online Sales App 06/07/2019 Kelley Blue Book’s Senior Managing Editor Matt DeLorenzo writes This Week in Car Buying, a weekly column on KBB.com. In this week’s article, Matt reports on Ford extending Fusion production into 2020 and possibly into 2021. Meanwhile, the average transaction prices (ATP) of vehicles continue to climb on a year-over-year basis according to Kelley Blue Book data while moderating month-to-month. The estimated ATP for a light vehicle for May was $37,185, up $1,320 or 3.7… Read Article

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Spring Bounce Fading, But Tariffs May Provide Support 06/07/2019 Wholesale used vehicle prices (on a mix-, mileage-, and seasonally adjusted basis) increased 0.85% month-over-month in May. This brought the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index to 139.6, a 4.0% increase from a year ago.Looking at trends in weekly Manheim Market Report (MMR) prices, the spring bounce in values ended in April, and May saw steady and slightly lower than normal depreciation each week. Three-year-old vehicle values… Read Article

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FCA Pulls Out of Renault Talks 06/06/2019 FCA just announced that it is pulling out of merger talks with Renault. Analysts at Cox Automotive, Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader provide some analysis. From Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox Automotive “Some argue FCA needs a partner to survive, but bigger is not always better. The Ram brand is still doing well, and Jeep is a strong brand that makes money and can be… Read Article

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May 2019 U.S. Auto Sales Come In Stronger Than Forecast 06/03/2019 U.S. auto sales in May surprised, coming in stronger than forecast and driven in part by fleet sales, healthy incentives and strong consumer confidence. Market volatility has been the norm so far in 2019, and in May we saw more of that with the SAAR running well above the consensus outlook. Honda was below forecast, but FCA, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota all posted strong numbers. The… Read Article

Market Insights Commentary & Voices

Charlie Chesbrough on Memorial Day Sales Results, Q2 Predictions, and Other Industry Trends 06/03/2019 CBT News, June 3, 2019 -- While it’s important to monitor year-over-year trends in the retail auto industry, it is arguably more important to focus on where the industry is headed. Charlie Chesbrough, Senior Economist and Senior Director of Industry Insights at Cox Automotive, joins Jim Fitzpatrick at CBT News to give an overview of this year’s numbers so far and what we can expect for Q2… Read Article

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This Week in Car Buying: Luxury Shift to Crossovers Continues; Nissan May Cut Stair-Step Incentives; Rising Inventories, Better Deals Ahead; GM Cuts back on Maven 05/31/2019 Kelley Blue Book’s Senior Managing Editor Matt DeLorenzo writes This Week in Car Buying, a weekly column on KBB.com. In this week’s article, Matt reports on findings from a recent Brand Watch Snapshot by Cox Automotive showing that luxury buyers continue to embrace crossover SUVs. The Acura RDX has passed the BMW 3 Series as top considered luxury vehicle. According to a report in Automotive News, Nissan may be moving away from its stair-step incentive… Read Article

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