by calculated risk 10/01/2024 05:00:00 PM
Words Auto has announced its light vehicle sales forecast for September. US light vehicle sales increased slightly on a SAAR basis in September. Third quarter sales volume decreased by 1.9% (Paid site).
Despite inventory continuing to increase, sales have been mostly in negative territory for the past six months. Affordability and slowing fleet orders are problems for growth. September continued to see gains in the most affordable segments, but this was offset by weakness in high-end cars, which has been a theme for the past two quarters. (September deliveries were also down slightly due to Hurricane Helen.) A strong 4.9% increase in the first quarter, despite declines of 0.5% and 1.9% in the second and third quarters, respectively. This was enough to increase year-to-date sales through September compared to the same period last year. Even if it’s less than 1%.
Click on the graph to see a larger image.
This graph shows light vehicle sales since 2006 from BEA (blue) and Wards’ August estimates (red).
August sales were slightly above consensus expectations.
The second graph shows light vehicle sales since BEA began keeping data in 1967. 
