Recent Updates
- US: Wholesale Trade (Feb), Producer Prices (Mar)
- US: Producer Price Indexes by Commodity Detail (Mar)
- US: Producer Price Indexes by Industry Detail (Mar)
- Canada: Investment in Building Construction (Feb), Labor Force Survey (Mar)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Wholesale Inventories Post Strong February Gain; Sales Fall
Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% (2.0% y/y) during February...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Unexpectedly Increase
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 744,000 during the week ended April 3...
Total PMIs Gain Traction in March
The PMI readings for March show improvement again...
U.S. Consumer Credit Outstanding Bounces Back in February
Consumer credit outstanding surged $27.6 billion during February...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to Record during February
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $71.1 during February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller June 1, 2018
Total sales of light vehicles declined 1.5% during May (+0.7% y/y) to 16.91 million units (SAAR), following a 1.8% April decline to 17.17 million units, according to the Autodata Corporation. The decline left sales 8.9% below the 18.57 million unit high reached last September. May sales declined 5.3% since December, following a 1.7% twelve-month shortfall during 2017.
Sales of light trucks declined 2.2% (+8.7% y/y) to 11.48 million units. Domestic light truck sales eased 2.1% (+5.1% y/y) to 9.09 million units. Sales of imported light trucks fell 2.5% (+25.4% y/y) to 2.39 million units.
Passenger car sales were fairly steady m/m at 5.44 million units. Sales of domestically made autos eased 0.1% (-13.5% y/y) to 3.90 million units, the lowest level since November 2010. Sales of imported passenger cars improved 0.7% (-11.1% y/y) to 1.54 million units.
Trucks' share of the U.S. vehicle market slipped to 67.9% in May, but remained up versus 63.2% during all of last year and 48.8% during all of 2008.
Imports' share of the U.S. vehicle market was steady at 23.2% last month, up from 19.9% in 2015. Imports' share of the passenger car market increased to 28.3% from 27.7% last year. Imports share of the light truck market held steady at 20.8% versus a 12.7% low during 2014.
U.S. vehicle sales figures can be found in Haver's USECON database.
Light Weight Vehicle Sales (SAAR, Million Units) | May | Apr | Mar | May Y/Y % | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 16.91 | 17.17 | 17.48 | 0.7 | 17.27 | 17.55 | 17.48 |
Autos | 5.44 | 5.43 | 5.62 | -12.8 | 6.35 | 7.10 | 7.73 |
Domestic | 3.90 | 3.91 | 4.10 | -13.5 | 4.59 | 5.20 | 5.63 |
Imported | 1.54 | 1.53 | 1.51 | -11.1 | 1.76 | 1.90 | 2.10 |
Light Trucks | 11.48 | 11.73 | 11.87 | 8.7 | 10.92 | 10.44 | 9.74 |
Domestic | 9.09 | 9.28 | 9.64 | 5.1 | 9.02 | 8.75 | 8.37 |
Imported | 2.39 | 2.45 | 2.23 | 25.4 | 1.90 | 1.69 | 1.38 |