Global| Oct 01 2014U.S. Light Vehicle Sales Give Back the August Surge
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
According to the Autodata Corporation, September sales of light vehicles fell back to 16.43 million units (SAAR) from 17.53 million in August. The decline retraced most of the August jump to the 2006 high, and left unit sales up 5.8% [...]
According to the Autodata Corporation, September sales of light vehicles fell back to 16.43 million units (SAAR) from 17.53 million in August. The decline retraced most of the August jump to the 2006 high, and left unit sales up 5.8% since December.
Auto sales in September declined 8.2% (-0.3% y/y) to 7.74 million units, the lowest level since April. Sales of domestically-produced autos fell 9.2% (+3.8% y/y) to 5.63 million while sales of imports dropped 5.6% (-9.8% y/y) to 2.12 million.
Light truck sales fell 4.5% (+13.6% y/y) to 8.69 million units. Nevertheless, they remained just off September's expansion high. Sales of domestically-produced light trucks were off 4.5% (+15.0% y/y) to 7.54 million and imported light truck sales fell 4.6% (+4.9% y/y) to 1.15 million.
The import share of light vehicle sales was little changed at 19.9%, nearly its lowest reading since 2006. The import share of auto sales improved to 27.4%, down from 34.8% during all of 2010, while the import share of light trucks was roughly steady at 13.2%, about where it was two years ago.
U.S. vehicle sales figures can be found in Haver's USECON database.
Managing Risk in the Recovery from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is available here.
| Light Vehicle Sales (SAAR, Mil. Units) | Sep | Aug | Jul | Y/Y % | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 16.43 | 17.53 | 16.48 | 6.6 | 15.56 | 14.49 | 12.78 |
| Autos | 7.74 | 8.44 | 8.00 | -0.3 | 7.77 | 7.42 | 6.23 |
| Domestic | 5.63 | 6.19 | 5.78 | 3.8 | 5.47 | 5.10 | 4.21 |
| Imported | 2.12 | 2.24 | 2.21 | -9.8 | 2.29 | 2.32 | 2.02 |
| Light Trucks | 8.69 | 9.10 | 8.49 | 13.6 | 7.79 | 7.08 | 6.55 |
| Domestic | 7.54 | 7.89 | 7.38 | 15.0 | 6.71 | 6.10 | 5.55 |
| Imported | 1.15 | 1.21 | 1.10 | 4.9 | 1.08 | 0.97 | 1.00 |
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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