Sandy helps fuel November car sales surge

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Auto / Buying a CarTrueCar.com estimates that 30,000 cars were not purchased during the month of October 2012 as a direct result of Hurricane Sandy. The good news is that the purchases haven’t been abandoned; only delayed.


The result was the biggest month for sale since December of 2007.

And there’s even more good news: The spillover is expected to spill into December 2012 as well, producing another strong month.

“November was one of the strongest months in over four years and we project that December could end up being a bigger month,” said Jesse Toprak, senior analyst for TrueCar.com. “Combination of great products and attractive finance/lease promotions in addition to a boost from replacement demand created by Sandy will ensure a solid finish to the best year in car sales since 2007.”

Looking ahead, TrueCar noted, “December early forecast shows the month tracking at 1.43 million units, adding up to 14.56 million total units sold for 2012. TrueCar’s 2013 forecast is 15.4 million units.” Large trucks are expected to do well thanks to aggressive incentive programs aimed to move product in that category.

Here’s how various manufacturers fared:

Brand Sales Chg 10/12 Chg 11/11
Chrysler 122,565 -2.90% 14.40%
Ford 177,092 5.40% 6.40%
GM 186,505 -4.70% 3.40%
Honda 116,580 9.00% 38.90%
Hyundai/Kia 94,542 2.00% 9.10%
Nissan 96,197 20.70% 12.90%
Toyota 161,695 4.20% 17.20%
Volkswagen 48,795 6.00% 28.00%
Industry 1,142,883 4.70% 15.00%
Source: TrueCar.com