Global| Sep 04 2008U.S. August Light Vehicle Sales Recovered Modestly
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
U.S. sales of light vehicles in August recovered their decline during July and rose 9.3%, according to the Autodata Corporation. The latest sales level of 13.72M units, nevertheless, left sales for the year so far averaging 14.32M. [...]
U.S. sales of light vehicles in August recovered their decline during July and rose 9.3%, according to the Autodata Corporation. The latest sales level of 13.72M units, nevertheless, left sales for the year so far averaging 14.32M. That's down 11.6% from the 16.20M averaged during the first eight months of last year. The level of August vehicle sales was higher than Consensus expectations for sales of 13.0M.
Sales of domestically made light vehicles recovered the declines of the prior two months. They rose 15.2% to 10.30M. Nevertheless, sales remained down 13.7% YTD.
Aggressive discounting lifted sales of domestically made light trucks to their highest level since March. The 28.1% jump from July still left sales down 20.2% YTD.
Sales of U.S. made cars rose just 1.5% after two months of sharp decline. Nevertheless and continuing drivers' shift to purchases of relatively fuel efficient vehicles, car sales were down only 4.5% YTD.
Sales of imported light vehicles showed further the effect of weakness in consumer spending on durable goods. They fell by 5.3% to 3.42 million units which was their lowest level since early 2006.
Sales of imported autos repeated their July drop and declined by 8.4% to 2.33M units. Year-to-date sales, however, were flat with the first eight months of 2007.
Imported light truck sales ticked up just 1.8% (-22.0% y/y) after four months of sharp decline. They too have felt the effect of higher fuel costs and were down 14.2% YTD.Import's share of the U.S. light vehicle market fell to 24.9%, the lowest since this past February. (Imported vehicles are those produced outside the U.S. and does not include vehicles with the nameplate of a foreign manufacturer produced within the U.S.).
| Light Vehicle Sales (SAAR, Mil. Units) | August | July | Y/Y | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 13.72 | 12.55 | -15.8% | 16.17 | 16.54 | 16.96 |
| Autos | 6.74 | 6.88 | -9.1 | 7.58 | 7.77 | 7.65 |
| Domestic | 4.41 | 4.35 | -12.7 | 5.07 | 5.31 | 5.40 |
| Imported | 2.33 | 2.54 | -1.4 | 2.51 | 2.45 | 2.25 |
| Light Trucks | 6.98 | 5.67 | -21.5 | 8.60 | 8.78 | 9.32 |
| Domestic | 5.89 | 4.59 | -21.4 | 7.12 | 7.42 | 8.12 |
| Imported | 1.09 | 1.07 | -22.0 | 1.48 | 1.37 | 1.20 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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