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U.S Light Vehicle sales in October once again slowed from the early 2016 pace. Automakers sold 1.37 million vehicles, a -5% decline from October of 2015, and compared to 1,435,689 in September and 1,512,556 in August. The SAAR – Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate – at 18.02 million declined from 18.18 million year-over-year.
“Economic indicators remain positive for the auto industry,” said AIADA President Cody Lusk. “Job security, the price of gas, and low interest rates should all combine to ensure a healthy environment for vehicle sales well into 2017.” Well maybe. What happens to the economy and the markets when one of the two most despised presidential candidates in history wins?
The trend to watch is the ongoing decline of passenger car sales at 526,000, down a breathtaking -15% in what could track as the second best-selling year in history. Light truck sales increased to 846,00, a relatively tepid~1% increase. Pickups and crossovers took 61.2% of all sales, up 1.6% from October 2015. Analysts were mixed on how to interpret all this: Has the industry plateaued at a comfortable level or is this a warning sign of an impending recession? – the same question posed for months now. (Chilly September as U.S. Light Vehicle Sales Slow, Asian Brands Dominate U.S. August Sales, US August Sales Continue Truck, https://sunfellow.com/clomid-pct/ Crossover Boom)
The biggest October vehicle sales losers were: BMW -16.5% at 28,000, Volvo -14.6% at 6,000, Ford Motor -11.9% – big numbers here – at 188,000, Volkswagen Group -11.3% at 43,000 (the VW brand enmeshed in Dieselgate once again dropped, this time -18.5% at 25,000), Fiat Chrysler -10.3% at 177,000.
In the all-important Top Ten Seller list (because of the large volumes involved, ~26% of the total market), things were pretty much unchanged with one exception: Ford Escape, a compact crossover SUV, squeaked into Tenth place, displacing the Nissan Rogue crossover. Otherwise it was Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado (picking up share on Ford), Ram – as one, two, three. Compact SUVs included three models, led by the Honda CR-V in the fourth place for the month. Toyota RAV4 followed in seventh place, while the Ford Escape finished the month in tenth place.
Trucks and SUVs represented six of the Top Ten Selling vehicles in October (FCA, Ford, and GM have a sales mix that is currently at 72% light trucks), but there were some sizable car sales. In fifth place, the Toyota Camry mid-size (30,000) remained the most popular car in America, followed by the Corolla (29,000) in sixth place. In eighth and ninth place, respectively, Honda’s Civic compact (+26,000) and Accord mid-size (26,000) were the cars in the month’s Top Ten List.
