• Sales of light trucks lead the improvement.

• Domestic passenger car sales falter.

• Imports' share of vehicle market improves.

Light vehicle sales improved last month. The Autodata Corporation reported that sales of light vehicles rose 2.6% during January (-1.3% y/y) to 16.83 million units (SAAR) and added to December's 3.1% rise to 16.41 million units. It was the highest level of sales since February of last year.

Sales of light trucks increased 3.0% (3.3% y/y) during January to a record 12.95 million units. Purchases of domestically-made light trucks increased 2.6% (2.0% y/y) to 10.16 million units following a 7.4% December gain. Adding to this rise, sales of imported light trucks rose 4.5% (8.6% y/y) to a record 2.79 million units after falling 2.9% during December. Imported trucks 21.5% share of the U.S. light truck market was increased from a low of 14.7% during all of 2014.

Trucks' share of the light vehicle market improved to 76.9%, but still was below the 77.5% peak during May of last year.

Auto sales rose 1.0% (-14.2% y/y) last month to 3.88 million units, but they remained below the 2014 peak of 7.71 million units. Purchases of domestically-produced cars fell 1.9% (-19.9% y/y) to 2.65 million units after declining 4.6% in December. Offsetting this decline, sales of imported autos strengthened 7.9% (1.7% y/y) to 1.23 million, the highest level since February.

Imports' share of the U.S. vehicle market edged higher last month to 23.9%. That placed them up from 22.2% in January 2020 and a low of 19.9% during all of 2015. Imports' share of the passenger car market strengthened to 31.7% in January, the highest level since June. Imports' share of the light truck market was little-changed m/m at 21.5%. It has been trending upward from 14.7% in 2014.

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

An Overview of the Economic Outlook: 2021 to 2031 from the Congressional Budget Office can be found here.