New-vehicle retail sales in January are expected to reach the highest levels for the month in a decade, both overall and on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) basis according to the latest forecast. Overall sales are also tracking at the same pace.
New-vehicle retail sales in January 2015 are projected to reach 932,000 units, an 8.5% increase on a selling-day adjusted basis compared with January 2014 since it has one more selling day than 2014. The retail SAAR in January is expected to be 13.9 million units, which is 1.0 million units stronger than January 2014, matching the levels reached in January 2004.
Total light-vehicle sales in January 2015 are predicted at 1.1 million units, an 8% increase, compared with January 2014. Fleet volume in January is projected to come in at 204,000 units, which, at 18 percent of total sales, is on par with the fleet percentage in January 2014.
Cheap gas and credit are fueling the growth in January, trucks, vans and SUVs account for 55.4% of sales, the highest level for a January since 2004, according to J.D. Power, the source of the soothsaying.
LMC Automotive is maintaining its 2015 retail sales forecast at 14.0 million and its total light-vehicle sales forecast at 17.0 million.
Auto sales in 2014 ended strongly, with total light-vehicle sales finishing at 16.5 million and retail light-vehicle sales tallying 13.6 million.
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.
