{"id":247856,"date":"2023-09-28T15:17:49","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T19:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=247856"},"modified":"2023-09-28T15:17:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T19:17:58","slug":"new-vehicle-sales-increase-in-september","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2023\/09\/new-vehicle-sales-increase-in-september\/","title":{"rendered":"New Vehicle Sales Increase in September"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Car sales in September held steady during September and throughout the third quarter, industry analysts predicted, despite the shadows cast over the industry by the United Auto Workers strike against Detroit\u2019s automakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Car
Analysts predict sales will rise in September and the third quarter despite the UAW strike and rising interest rates.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Those shadows may get longer too as the UAW is preparing to expand the strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis as soon as this Friday. Union president Shawn Fain will break that new during a Facebook Live address Friday at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good third quarter numbers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. auto industry is expected to finish the third quarter with another strong year-over-year sales gain, a new forecast from Cox Automotive predicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite challenges like rising interest rates on new-vehicle loans and a strike by the UAW against the major domestic automakers, sales volumes are expected to reach almost 1.3 million in September, an increase of more than 13% from the previous year, according to\u00a0Cox Automotive Chief Economist\u00a0Jonathan Smoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the auto industry right now, interest rates are public enemy No. 1 \u2014 the leading factor holding back business,\u201d Smoke said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edmunds forecasts 3.94 million new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2023, which will be a 16% increase from the third quarter of 2022 but a 4.1% decrease compared to the second quarter of 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Q3<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGiven high interest rates, conservative inventory and modest incentives, consumers weren’t exactly hit with compelling buy messages throughout the third quarter compared to the traditional summer sales deals and model-year sell-down advertising messages of the past,\u201d said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds\u2019 head of insights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStill, new-vehicle sales have remained somewhat consistent as pent-up demand keeps sales afloat despite economic challenges,\u201d Caldwell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caldwell added the UAW strike could soon begin to throw a monkey wrench into 2023 sales \u2014 creating inventory uncertainty among the Detroit Three moving forward. \u201cRight now, the effects are limited, and third-quarter sales were left unscathed. However, the landscape can change dramatically, and quickly, if the strike continues,\u201d Caldwell noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strike could alter sales dynamics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Q3<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Heading into the UAW strike, recent days-to-turn data from Edmunds reveals that vehicles from the Detroit automakers sat on dealer lots longer than the industry average, Caldwell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first half of September, while industry-wide days to turn was at 37 days, Stellantis was at 72 days, Ford at 48 days and General Motors at 40 days, according to Edmunds estimates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAvailability is currently strong for American-branded trucks and SUVs, but shoppers contemplating a new-vehicle purchase from any of the Detroit brands may consider expediting their search process given the strike\u2019s unpredictable impact on supply,\u201d said Ivan Drury, Edmunds\u2019 director of insights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the strike lingers, Edmunds analysts advise consumers to keep an open mind on make and model. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSimilar to how shoppers were forced to navigate tight inventory due to chip shortages and other pandemic-related supply chain challenges the past few years, those who plan ahead and remain open to a variety of brands, colors and even vehicle types will leave with the best deals,\u201d said Drury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCurrent Detroit Three lessees with an expiration in the next few months might consider taking action more quickly, either by extending the lease or buying it out at the end of the contract. And for shoppers looking at models with very specific configurations or custom order requirements, I\u2019d suggest locking in the order sooner rather than later,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Analysts predict solid sales for September and the third quarter, in spite of several factors that could affect sales. However, an extended strike by the UAW could result in potholes ahead for lease vehicles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20009,"featured_media":215685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1347,7,8,5,2648],"tags":[12185,1893,12186,417,2907],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247856"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247856"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247860,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247856\/revisions\/247860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247856"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=247856"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=247856"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=247856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}