Global| Mar 03 2015U.S. Light Vehicle Sales Fall to Lowest Since April; Trucks Share is Trending Higher
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Consumer's continue to shy away from auto dealerships. Sales of light vehicles declined 2.6% during February to 16.23 million (AR) from 16.66 million in January. It was the third straight month of decline. Sales have moved erratically [...]
Consumer's continue to shy away from auto dealerships. Sales of light vehicles declined 2.6% during February to 16.23 million (AR) from 16.66 million in January. It was the third straight month of decline. Sales have moved erratically sideways since last summer.
Light truck sales continued to benefit, however, from the decline in gasoline prices. Trucks share of total vehicle sales rose to 55.5% last month, the highest level since July 2005. For last month alone, light truck sales fell 1.2%, but they remained 12.0% higher versus last year. Domestic light truck sales declined 1.9% to 7.92 million (+12.7% y/y). To the upside last month were imported truck sales which gained 4.4% to 1.09 million (7.2% y/y).
This benefit come at the expense of auto sales. They declined a greater 4.2% from January to 7.23 million (-1.9% y/y). Domestic auto sales declined 4.8% last month to 5.21 million (+0.1% y/y) while imported car sales fell 2.6% to 2.02 million (-6.6% y/y).
Imports share of the market for light vehicles improved slightly m/m to 19.1%, but remained down versus a high of 30.7% in February 2009. Imports share of the passenger car market was little-changed at 27.9% but down from a high of 38.0%. Imports share of the light truck market nudged up to 12.1%, but remained down from a high of 23.8%.
U.S. vehicle sales figures are published by Autodata and can be found in Haver's USECON database.
Eager to Expand, but Money's Tight from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland can be found here.
| Light Vehicle Sales (SAAR, Mil. Units) | Feb | Jan | Dec | Y/Y % | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 16.23 | 16.66 | 16.92 | 5.4 | 16.49 | 15.58 | 14.48 |
| Autos | 7.23 | 7.54 | 8.16 | -1.9 | 7.91 | 7.78 | 7.42 |
| Domestic | 5.21 | 5.47 | 5.88 | 0.1 | 5.68 | 5.48 | 5.10 |
| Imported | 2.02 | 2.07 | 2.27 | -6.6 | 2.23 | 2.30 | 2.32 |
| Light Trucks | 9.01 | 9.12 | 8.76 | 12.0 | 8.58 | 7.81 | 7.06 |
| Domestic | 7.92 | 8.07 | 7.69 | 12.7 | 7.50 | 6.73 | 6.09 |
| Imported | 1.09 | 1.04 | 1.08 | 7.2 | 1.08 | 1.08 | 0.97 |
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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