Trucks could top 60% of U.S. light-vehicle sales in Q4, with half coming from continued record penetration of CUVs and gains by pickups, SUVs and vans.
October U.S. sales likely are set for a payback following three straight month-to-month increases in the SAAR and the drain on older model-year inventory.
The combination of total LV inventory 3% above year-ago, and stocks of the strongest growing segment group increasing month-to-month, points to a fifth straight 17 million-plus SAAR in September.
An irony of the 1.5 million units in new production capacity being added in North America in the next four years is that sales penetration of domestically made vehicles won’t rise significantly.
Sales of large trucks rebounded from a June decline that ended 15 straight increases, but were uneven across segments and possibly aided by some spot incentives.