AutoInformed

With a 16.6 million unit selling rate, January Light Vehicle US sales were slightly higher than expected. However pandemic worries and the hangover from the Trump administration’s mishandling or ignoring the Covid 19 crisis continue to create great uncertainty in a vital industry that can only react slowly to economic and consumer mood swings. Light Vehicle sales totaled 1.09 million units in January in the US, down by just 3% YoY, on one fewer selling day. The annualized rate of 16.6 million units was the highest since the beginning of the pandemic. SUVs accounted for 54% of total sales, with Compact and Midsize Non-Premium SUVs being the two most popular segments across the industry, according to consultancy LMC.

Projections for 2020 Global Light Vehicle sales ended at 77.7 million units, down -14% from 2019 and with a stronger recovery than expected initially. LMC maintains that 2021 is poised to continue the recovery, with volume projected at 86.5 million units, up 11% from 2020. AI thinks while the past isn’t a 100% sure predictor of the future, the new – perhaps more virulent strains of the Covid virus, the nationalistic fights over vaccines, the emergence of fascism and sedition in the US,  and stricter and ongoing social controls in most major market are huge risks. Significant shares of the public in the U.S., France, Germany and the UK say their lives have changed because of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. (See AutoInformed on IndustriALL Global Union – Labor Will Defend US Democracy, Global Auto Business Threatened by Covid Second Wave, IndustriALL Global Union – Labor Will Defend US Democracy) Continue reading →