Newsroom

February 02, 2017

Vehicle sales retreat in January

Total vehicle sales declined in January from December's rate of 18.4 million to 17.6 million seasonally adjusted annualized units. NAFCU Chief Economist and Director of Research Curt Long said gas prices are expected to continue to rise and "may dampen demand in 2017."

However, Long said, even though January's vehicle sales retreated, they still beat analysts' expectations. "The strong sales pace in recent times has been partly due to increasing manufacturer incentives," he noted in a NAFCU Macro Data Flash report. "Inventory levels continue to rise, and carmakers are feeling pressured to trim margins in order to spur sales."

Data released Thursday from Autodata Corp., noted that monthly vehicle sales levels were down 1.6 percent from a year ago.

Car sales fell from December's 7.3 million to 6.6 million annualized units in January. Meanwhile, sales of light trucks slipped from 11.2 million to 11 million annualized units.

Two of the six largest automakers saw year-over-year sales growth. Nissan reported the largest gain in sales at 6.2 percent, followed by Honda (+5.9 percent). Toyota saw sales decline 11.3 percent versus a year earlier, as did Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (-11.2 percent), General Motors (-3.9 percent) and Ford (-0.7 percent).

The U.S. brand share of the total vehicle market was 47 percent in January, up from 44.4 percent in December. The share of domestically assembled vehicles increased from 78.8 percent to 80.6 percent.

"Foreign manufacturers are at greater risk as the Trump administration works out its trade agenda," Long said. "Still, a solid labor market, improving wage growth, and a buoyant stock market should support strong sales throughout the year."