Sales of light vehicles fell 4.8% (-2.8% y/y) during January to 16.70 million units (SAAR), the lowest level since August 2017.

A 7.9% decline (-1.9% y/y) in light truck sales to 11.24 million units led the decline after a 0.7% gain in the prior month. Sales of domestically-produced light trucks fell 8.2% (-3.4% y/y) to 8.96 million units following a 0.5% rise in December. Sales of imported light trucks declined 6.6% (+4.7% y/y) to 2.28 million units after a 1.2% rise.

Trucks’ share of the U.S. vehicle market declined to 67.3%, the lowest level since February of last year.

Passenger car sales improved 2.1% (-4.8% y/y) last month to 5.46 million units following declines during the prior two months. Sales of domestically-made cars improved 0.5% (-2.6% y/y) to 4.01 million units. Meanwhile, sales of imported passenger cars jumped 6.6% (-10.4% y/y) to 1.45 million units after three months of sharp decline.

Imports’ share of the U.S. vehicle market rose last month to 22.3%, the highest level in four months. Imports share of the passenger car market increased to 26.6%, but remained below the 28.6% high last April. Imports share of the light truck market improved to 20.3%.

U.S. vehicle sales figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. Additional detail by manufacturer is in the INDUSTRY database.