US Auto Sales Expected to Fall 2% from a Year Ago

U.S. auto sales in April likely fell almost 2 percent from a year earlier, with consumer discounts remaining at levels high enough to threaten the industry’s long-term health, industry consultants J.D. Power and LMC Automotive said on Tuesday.

The consultancies also lowered their full-year 2017 forecast for new vehicle sales to 17.5 million units, from a previous forecast of 17.6 million.

April U.S. new vehicle sales will be about 1.48 million units, a drop of nearly 2 percent from 1.51 million units a year earlier, the consultancies said.

The forecast was based on the first 13 selling days of the month. Automakers are expected to report April U.S. sales results on May 2.

The seasonally adjusted annualized rate for the month will be 17.5 million vehicles, flat versus the same month in 2016.

Retail sales to consumers, which do not include multiple fleet sales to rental agencies, businesses and government, were set to decline more than 0.2 percent in April.

via Reuters

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