The deliberate diesel emissions cheating scandal continues to slow VW sales.
Projections say that ~1.5 million new cars and light trucks will be sold during May in the U.S. This translates to a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate, aka SAAR, of 17.5 million. The projected sales will be a 2.3% increase from April 2016, but a 5.8% decrease from May 2015. If accurate 2016 is still on track to break last year’s record of 17.47 million new car sales.
Of note, the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal continues to have severe consequences. VW and Audi with projected monthly sales of 43,244 would be down a whopping -18.7% year-over-year.
“It’s easy to look at May’s sales and conclude that the retail car market is losing steam, but it’s too soon to say for sure that auto sales are leveling off,” says Edmunds.com Director of Industry Analysis Jessica Caldwell.
“As in previous years, the summer months will flush out more incentives from automakers and the urgency that shoppers show in responding to these incentives will give the industry a much better sense of how the market is trending,” she cautioned.
Edmunds estimates that the retail SAAR will come in at 14.3 million vehicles in May, with fleet transactions accounting for 18.5% of total sales. An estimated 3.2 million used cars will be sold in May, for a SAAR of 38.5 million compared to 3.4 million – or a SAAR of 38.5 million – used car sales in April.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), 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.
Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures.
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 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.
