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Economy in Brief
U.S. Energy Prices Rise Further
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S&P Flash PMIs Are Mixed in May As Manufacturing Erodes Slowly
Among the early reporting countries in Europe and Japan, the S&P PMI readings for May tilt toward weakness...
NABE Lowers Growth Expectations for Next Year & 2022
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Chicago Fed National Activity Index Improves in April
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IFO Registers Small Rebound on the Month
Germany's IFO index has rebounded on the month...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
Profits & Margins Plunge In Q1: Expect More Margin Contraction As Fed Squeezes Inflation
The Many Links of Inflation Cycle: Hard Landing Is Needed to Crack Them
Peak Inflation and Fed Policy: A Relationship which Should Worry the Fed and Scare Investors
Why Have the Yields on TIPS Been Negative in the Past Two Years?
by Tom Moeller July 5, 2012
Unit sales of light motor vehicles during June rose 2.2% to 14.08M (SAAR). The increase made up half of May's decline according to Autodata Corporation. The latest was slightly higher than the Consensus estimate for 13.9M sales, according to Bloomberg.
Light truck sales rose 2.7% (19.9% y/y) to a recovery high of 7.11M. Domestic truck purchases jumped 3.7% (22.8% y/y) to 6.14M but sales of imported light trucks fell 2.0% (+4.3% y/y) to 0.99M.
Auto sales increased 1.5% m/m (23.4% y/y) to 6.96M. Domestic car sales rose 5.6% to 4.92M (26.8% y/y) while imports fell 6.8% (+17.1% y/y) to 2.05M.Imports' share of the U.S. light vehicle market fell further to 21.4% in June, the lowest since 2006. (Imported vehicles are those produced outside the United States.) That share was down from its peak of 29.9% in Q1'09. The lower foreign exchange value of the dollar played a role as it made imports relatively more expensive. Imports' share of the U.S. car market fell m/m to 29.5%, its lowest since 2006, and was down from its 38.1% peak in 2010. Imports' share of the light truck market fell to 13.6% last month, down from its 23.9% peak in early '09.
The U.S. vehicle sales figures can be found in Haver's USECON database.
Light Vehicle Sales (SAAR, Mil. Units) | Jun | May | Apr | Y/Y % | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 14.08 | 13.78 | 14.42 | 21.8 | 12.78 | 11.58 | 10.38 |
Autos | 6.96 | 6.86 | 7.47 | 23.4 | 6.24 | 5.79 | 5.45 |
Domestic | 4.92 | 4.66 | 4.96 | 26.8 | 4.22 | 3.78 | 3.56 |
Imported | 2.05 | 2.20 | 2.50 | 17.1 | 2.02 | 2.00 | 1.89 |
Light Trucks | 7.11 | 6.92 | 6.95 | 19.9 | 6.54 | 5.79 | 4.93 |
Domestic | 6.14 | 5.92 | 5.96 | 22.8 | 5.55 | 4.84 | 3.96 |
Imported | 0.97 | 0.99 | 0.99 | 4.3 | 1.00 | 0.96 | 0.97 |