“The selling pace for the year was slow out of the gate.”
U.S. March auto sales are showing signs of improvement based on the first 13 selling days of the month. Total U.S. light-vehicle sales during are expected to rise 6% to ~1.5 million units. Fleet sales as a percentage of total sales remain low, with March share expected at 20%, which is 1% below March 2013.
New-vehicle retail sales in March are showing signs of improvement – projected at 1.19 million or +7% year-over-year – following slower-than-expected sales in the first two months of 2014.
The seasonally adjusted annualized rate or SAAR for retail sales projected to reach 12.6 million. Retail sales in February were 946,766 with a SAAR of 12.4 million.
“The selling pace for the year was slow out of the gate, but the industry remains poised for stable growth in the near- to mid-term,” says Jeff Schuster, at LMC Automotive, the source of the soothsaying. “Modest improvements are expected as 2014 progresses,”
The average new-vehicle retail transaction price in March, as it has been for seven consecutive months, remains above $29,300, up nearly $700 from March 2013 and the highest level ever recorded for the month of March.
Low fleet mix combined with a weather-impacted sales pace in January and February has led to a slight downward revision in the outlook for 2014. LMC Automotive has cut its forecast for total light-vehicle sales in 2014 to 16.1 million units from 16.2 million. The retail light-vehicle sales forecast remains 13.3 million units.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
