Newsroom

December 02, 2016

Vehicle sales slow in November

Total vehicle sales slowed to a pace of 17.9 million seasonally adjusted annualized units in November as pent-up demand from the recession diminishes, said NAFCU Research Assistant Yun Cohen in a NAFCU Macro Data Flash report Friday.

According to Autodata Corp., October's rate of total vehicle sales was 18 million annualized units. Sales levels were down 2.1 percent compared to a year ago.

"In addition," Cohen added, "there has been a shift in demand toward used vehicles in some markets, according to a recent report from the Federal Reserve."

Car sales increased from October's 7.1 million to 7.2 million annualized units in November. Meanwhile, sales of light trucks fell from 10.9 million to 10.7 million annualized units.

"Looking ahead, as fuel prices are expected to rebound following OPEC's supply cut and as the Fed seems poised to raise interest rates, vehicle sales will likely face additional headwinds in 2017," Cohen said. "Nevertheless, a strong labor market and healthy economy should be enough to at least maintain the present sales pace."