Global| Jul 01 2008U.S. Vehicle Sales in June Lowest Since 1993
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
At 13.64 mil. (SAAR), U.S. sales of light vehicles in June fell 4.6% from May and they were down 13.1% from June of last year, according to the Autodata Corporation. The latest level was the lowest since early-1993 and it pulled sales [...]
At 13.64 mil. (SAAR), U.S. sales of light vehicles in June fell 4.6% from May and they were down 13.1% from June of last year, according to the Autodata Corporation. The latest level was the lowest since early-1993 and it pulled sales down 15.8% so far this year. The level of vehicle sales also was lower than Consensus expectations for sales of 14.0M.
Overall, sales of domestically made light vehicles fell 6.0% last month and were off 19.7% YTD. They were at the lowest level since 1991.
Higher gasoline prices continued to hit sales of relatively fuel inefficient domestically made light trucks. Sales fell 2.5% after May's 9.8% decline. That brought the decline this year to 27.4%. Sales of U.S. made cars reversed all of their May gain with a 9.5% decline to the lowest level in the series' history which dates back to 1990.
Sales of imported light vehicles again fell more moderately, by 1.0% to 3.93 million, after May's 0.7% decline.
Sales of imported autos rose 1.8% following a 3.8% May gain. So far this year sales of imported cars are up 7.7%. Conversely, sales of imported light trucks also felt the effect from higher gasoline prices and fell 7.3%; off 25.5% since December.
Import's share of the U.S. light vehicle market rose again to another record level of 28.9%. (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.) Imports' share of the U.S. car market rose to a record 37.3% but import's share of the light truck market slipped from the prior month's record to 18.4%.
| Light Vehicle Sales (SAAR, Mil. Units) | June | May | Y/Y | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 13.64 | 14.30 | -13.1% | 16.17 | 16.54 | 16.96 |
| Autos | 7.53 | 7.98 | -1.3% | 7.58 | 7.77 | 7.65 |
| Domestic | 4.72 | 5.22 | -7.0% | 5.07 | 5.31 | 5.40 |
| Imported | 2.81 | 2.76 | 10.0% | 2.51 | 2.45 | 2.25 |
| Light Trucks | 6.11 | 6.32 | -24.3% | 8.60 | 8.78 | 9.32 |
| Domestic | 4.98 | 5.11 | -24.6% | 7.12 | 7.42 | 8.12 |
| Imported | 1.13 | 1.21 | -22.8% | 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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