Despite an August push on the retail end by GM to pare excess stocks, the rest of the industry for the most part did not follow suit and dealer inventory heading into September remains an estimated 15% to 20% too high for current demand.
August’s results made it much more problematic that volume for 2017 will breach the 17 million-unit level for the third straight year.
(FINAL) U.S. automakers reported 1.48 million light-vehicle sales in August.
Sales were strong across the globe, though the U.S. and the U.K. were among the few to decline from year-ago.
With Q4 output running 2.6% below year-ago, 2017 North American car and truck production is headed for a fourth-place finish.
The report puts the seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales for August at 16.5 million units, below the 17.1 million SAAR from same-month 2016 and 16.7 million in the prior month.
Despite year-over-year declines, the region’s total was above the 10-year average for the month due to increases in Mexico.
For the second month in a row, heavy-duty truck sales outperformed last year’s volumes with double-digit gains.
For the first time this year, U.S. heavy-duty trucks pull off year-over-year growth, coming in 13.1% ahead of last July.
