June Car Sales Expected To Show Some Stabilization
July 01, 2009
Automakers selling vehicles in the U.S. report their June sales Wednesday, and the results are expected to show some stabilization in the business or at least a slowing of the decline.
The Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate (SAAR) is expected to come in at its highest level so far this year and could touch 10 million vehicles, according to a forecast by Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver.com.
Edmunds.com predicted last week that June's SAAR would come in at 10.1 million; a breakdown by automaker is outlined in its forecast posted on AutoObserver.com as well.
That remains more than 25 percent off of year-ago levels, and the Big 7 automakers will have hefty year-over-year declines despite record incentive levels, Edmunds.com estimates.
"We're still a long way from 16 million unit sales, but things are moving in the right direction," Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis for Edmunds.com.
A Reuters poll of analysts found a median expectation for U.S. auto sales of 9.81 million vehicles on an annualized basis, which would be down slightly from the 9.9 million unit rate in May and far below the 13.7 million rate in June 2008.
Bloomberg's poll of analysts show the June sales rate likely will come in at 10.1 million vehicles.
Ford's top sales analyst George Pipas said a 10-million unit rate was possible. Barclays and J.P. Morgan both have forecast a 10.1 million unit rate. "The worst is behind us," Pipas told reporters Tuesday. "We may see economic growth in the second half and a higher level of auto sales."
For the first half, annualized sales rate could be 9.5 million to 9.6 million units, according to Ford.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:16 AM under Analysis , Companies | Comments (1) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
So what will full-year sales come out to be?
I'm guessing slightly more than 9 million units.
Posted by: billddrummer | July 01, 2009 at 2:18 PM