Recent Updates
- US: Consumer Sentiment (May-final), Personal Income, Adv Trade & Inventories (Apr)
- China: Public Funds Asset Mgmt, SOE Economy Operation (Apr), Star Rated Hotels (Q1)
- Croatia: Retail Trade (Apr)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Advance Trade Deficit Narrowed Markedly in April
The advance estimate of the U.S. international trade deficit in goods narrowed to $105.9 billion in April...
As Inflation Overshoots, Are Central Banks Overdoing It?
This report is a reminder of how complicated inflation and monetary policy making can be...
U.S. GDP Decline is Little-Revised in Q1'22; Corporate Profits Fall
U.S. real GDP fell 1.5%, SAAR (+3.5% y/y) last quarter...
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index Dips in May But Remains Strong
The Kansas City Fed reported that its manufacturing sector business activity index declined to 23 in May...
U.S. Pending Home Sales Decline Sharply in April
Home buying remains under pressure...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller October 4, 2004
Unit sales of light vehicles rose 5.5% m/m in September to a 17.51M selling rate, just under the year's high of 17.71M set back in May. Consensus expectations had been for sales of 16.7M.
Sales of light trucks surged 7.7% m/m to the highest level in nearly three years. Domestic light truck sales of 9.0M were 10.8% higher than a year ago but imported light truck sales of 1.1.20M were down 3.6% y/y.
Total auto sales rose a moderate 2.5% m/m with domestics up 2.1% (-5.2% y/y) and imports up 3.5% (-0.5% y/y).
In September imports' share of the US market for new vehicles plummeted to 18.7%, the lowest level this year.
| Light Vehicle Sales (SAAR, Mil.Units) | Sept | Aug | Y/Y | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 17.51 | 16.60 | 3.1% | 16.69 | 16.81 | 17.26 |
| Autos | 7.33 | 7.15 | -3.9% | 7.63 | 8.07 | 8.48 |
| Trucks | 10.18 | 9.45 | 8.9% | 9.06 | 8.74 | 8.78 |
