In 2011, new car and light truck sales in the U.S. came in at about 13 million units sold. According to TrueCar.com, forecast sales for November put new light vehicle sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15.2 million units sold, an increase of nearly 17% over 2011 sales. November’s seasonally adjusted rate is the highest since February 2008.
According to TrueCar.com’s forecast, 1.12 million new vehicles will be sold in November, up 12.7% from a year ago and up 2.6% (unadjusted) month-over-month. All eight automakers included in the survey are expected to post higher sales in November than they did in October, with Nissan leading the pack, up 8.6%. Hyundai/Kia sales are up 5.1%, followed by Honda Motor Corp. (NYSE: HMC), up 3.9%; Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE: TM), up 3.8%; Volkswagen, up 2.7%; Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), up 0.6%; General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), up 0.4%; and Chrysler, up 0.3%.
For the year-over-year comparison, sales are up at every manufacturer, with Honda leading the way at 32.4% followed by Volkswagen at 24%.
Nissan’s blowout month is down to a big boost in buyer incentives during November. According to a TrueCar.com analyst:
Incentives are expected to increase nearly 20 percent in November and to their highest levels in over two years. Nissan’s incentive spend increased by almost 80 percent while the Asian automakers incentives also grew by over 20 percent. GM was the only domestic automaker that increased incentive spending last month.
Used car sales are down 11.7% month-over-month and up 3.8% year-over-year in November. TrueCar.com estimates that about 2.67 million used cars will be sold in November, down from about 3.22 million in October.
Paul Ausick
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