Unit sales of domestically produced cars and light duty trucks (including sport utility vehicles and mini-vans). Individual manufacturers report usually report sales on the first business day of the month. Motor vehicle sales are good indicators of trends in consumer spending. Why Investors Care
| Released on 8/1/08 For Jul 2008 | ||||||||||||
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Highlights
Weakness in vehicle sales accelerated in July pointing to big trouble for the motor vehicle and parts component of the retail trade report at mid-month. The combined domestic-and-import unit sales rate fell to 12.5 million from June's 13.6 million. The rate is the lowest since November 1991. Ominously, car sales did not hold up in the month, falling to a 7.0 million total rate for the lowest in available data doing back to 1990. The total light truck rate of 5.5 million is the lowest since October 1993.
Breaking down the data, the sales rate of domestic-made cars fell 4 tenths in the month to 4.6 million with imported cars down 3 tenths to 2.4 million. The sales rate of domestic-made light trucks fell 5 tenths to 4.5 million with imports unchanged at 1.0 million. These levels are preliminary and subject to rounding, but the story is clear -- consumers are retrenching in their vehicle purchases in what however may be a plus for the nation's chain stores.
Sales of domestic motor vehicles fell to a 9.9 million unit pace in June as consumers are being forced to turn away from purchasing U.S. built SUVs and autos that generally do not get as good gas mileage as many imports. Overall vehicles sales slipped to a 13.6 million combined domestic-made and import rate that's the lowest since September 1993 (total domestic rate is 9.9 million). Import cars were the only strong category, hitting a record 2.8 million rate and reflecting consumer demand for fuel efficiency.
Motor vehicle domestic sales Consensus Forecast for July 08: 9.95 million-unit rate
Range: 9.80 to 10.20 million-unit rate
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Motor vehicles sales slowed notably in 2006 as a result of higher interest rates and a jump in gasoline prices but remained at reasonable levels due to strong income growth. Late in 2006 and in early 2007, gasoline prices were down from 2006 highs but moderating economic growth kept sales from rebounding. Truck shares hit their peak in 2005 when gasoline was cheap and remain sharply lower since gasoline prices spiked in 2006. |
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