JD Power reports that sales of US light vehicles are slowing slightly in May, running 1 to 2% below sales for the same month last year.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
New light vehicle sales in May are now projected to register a 16.4 million unit seasonally adjusted annualised rate (SAAR), based on retail sales data for the first two weeks of the month. Light vehicle sales in May 2001 came in at a 16.5
million SAAR.
With retail sales softening, actual units sold in May are expected to reach 1.577 million.
“We expect that slowing retail sales will be offset by only moderate declines in fleet sales compared with the substantial declines seen in the early months of the year,” said Dr. Robert Schnorbus, chief economist at JD Power and Associates. “Fleet sales were very weak last quarter. However, rental companies are already signaling their intent to increase purchases.”
Despite the dip in total sales in May from April’s strong performance, JD Power is keeping its 2002 calendar-year forecast at 16.5 million units. “We anticipate that there may be a few minor bumps in coming months, but overall 2002 will be another very strong sales year,” Schnorbus said.
At the segment level, luxury cars, SUVs and compact cars continue to xperience strong sales, showing the greatest gains compared with a year ago. Midsize and sports cars have struggled all year.
“As has been the pattern for some time, Big Three sales appear to be lagging behind those of foreign automakers in May,” Schnorbus said.
“So far, only the Asians are likely to experience year-over-year gains this month and even those gains could be modest.”
