Automakers used the Thanksgiving holiday deal-making to keep U.S. sales up on their unprecedented home run in November, which was aided by the stronger economy, and the cheaper fuel prices to really encourage truck buyers back into the game.
Throughout the industry sales have exceeded 18 million sales rate for a record third straight month, making 2015 one of the best years ever for automakers. Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co beat analysts’ estimates with increases of at least 3.4%. GM Co and Ford Motor Co posted less aggressive profit gains, yet still made headway in profitable trucks.
Sales for the Volkswagen AG’s brand got caught up in an emissions-testing scandal, which caused at 25% plunge.
The surge is owed in part to buyers who have been calmed down by the increase of job and wage growth, along with the low interest rates and the gasoline prices of the last few weeks, which caused a 28% lesser average than 2014.
Light-vehicle sales in November rose about 1.4% to 1.32 million, according to researcher Autodata Corp. Based on that estimate, the selling pace was 18.2 million for the third straight month, and the record of 17.4 million annual sales is within reach if automakers can boost their transactions by about 5% from last December.
“We’ll probably break the sales record for the year that was set in 2000,” said Karl Brauer, Senior Analyst with Kelley Blue Book Co., a vehicle pricing research firm. “There is still pent-up demand, which is the underlying force behind the strong sales.”
It’s a fight to the finish of the year-end market share. Let’s keep a watch on who will win!