Kelley Blue Book reported a car sales downturn from August to September, but a healthy increase from September 2012 over September 2011. Natural disaster in Japan contributed to an unusually easy comp in August, and TrueCar.com is about on the same page as KBB in regard to solid September results.
Light vehicle sales are expected to be up 10.5% year over year, even they’ll be down 9.5% compared to last month – due largely to Japan’s inability to effectively compete in August.
The SAAR TrueCar sees for September is 14.6, 0.3 points higher than KBB is expecting.l
Used car sales are expected to be up 5.8% year over year by month’s end.
Here’s how the month is looking for the top eight brands and the industry as a whole – the percentage represents the current comparison with September 2011 results.
* Chrysler 137,612 (8.1%)
* Ford 177,066 (1.3%)
* GM 212,284 (2.5%)
* Honda 113,439 (26.7%)
* Hyundai/Kia 102,283 (16.7%)
* Nissan 92,349 (-0.7%)
* Toyota 161,201 (32.7%)
* Volkswagen 48,304 (31.4%)
* Industry 1,163,000 (10.5%)
RBR-TVBR observation: We have heard nothing but good news about car sales projections lately – your dealer clients should be striking while the iron is picking up some heat.
