National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA)’s Post

Could the spring slump be over? If your sales trend was like most dealers’, then your July used car sales may have been the best you’ve seen since February. July showed a 6% increase in sales volume compared to June, according to Jonathan Smoke in the latest Auto Market Weekly Summary. Get into the full report now for more on this data and what current inflation metrics mean for your business. https://lnkd.in/dUw9VQvd #vAuto #automotive #automotivenews #automotivesales #cardealership #carbusiness

Slow economic growth and high interest rates dampen U.S. Q3 auto dealer sentiment: In the third quarter, Q3, of 2023, the Cox Automotive Dealer Confidence Index (CADSI) revealed that dealer confidence in the U.S. remained largely stable despite high interest rates and economic concerns significantly impacting the car market.  The Q3 2023 CADSI is based on responses from 983 U.S. auto dealer respondents, including 429 independents and 554 […] The post Slow economic growth and high interest rates dampen U.S. Q3 auto dealer sentiment appeared first on CBT News.

Autos. With more auto sales come more auto loans. As we get further away from supply chain issues, lots start to get full again, just as rates are starting to fall...could be a good year for auto lending. "Analysts project industrywide sales of new cars for the U.S. could reach nearly 15.5 million in 2023, about a 13% increase from the prior year, once all car companies have released their figures" "Supply-chain snags, manufacturing disruptions and poorly stocked dealerships have weighed on new-vehicle sales since the start of the pandemic, leading the U.S. auto industry to report its worst sales year in more than a decade in 2022. Through the first nine months of 2023, sales rose by a double-digit percentage" "We're finally getting back to the traditional buyer's market" "Rather than relying on pent-up demand, auto dealers will have to start courting buyers again" "Cox Automotive projects modest sales growth for 2024 with forecasts of about 15.6 million in annual sales" "While car prices remain far above what they were in 2019, the average price paid for a new vehicle peaked in December 2022 and fell further last year to about $46,055 last month, according to research firm J.D. Power." #auto #rates #markets #lending #credit #consumer

The cost of financing a new car hits a record high of $656 per month, and car buyers could end up paying even more thanks to the Fed’s latest interest rate hike Fg Trade | Istock | Getty Images Scarcity, rates of interest cause prices to rise “Simply put, the availability of salable vehicles is not going to be sufficient to fulfill demand,” said Jeff Schuster, LMC Automotive’s president of Americas operations and global vehicle forecasts, in a forecast published jointly with J.D. Power. In response to the newest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, latest automobile prices are up 12.6% from last 12 months, and used automobile prices are up 16.1%. While year-over-year increases have slowed somewhat, higher rates of interest are driving up the price of automobile financing. On Wednesday, the Fed indicated that one other rate hike is probably going at its July meeting. In response to the JD Power/LMC Automotive forecast, the common transaction price of recent cars in May was $44,832. In response to automobile shopping app CoPilot, consumers pay a mean of $31,450 for used cars. The affordability index released by Cox Automotive and Moody’s Analytics shows that the common variety of weeks of income needed to purchase a brand new automobile rose to 41.3 weeks in May from 40.8 weeks in April – and up from about 35 weeks a 12 months earlier. 3 ways to avoid wasting on buying a brand new or used automobile While current market conditions are usually not favorable for automobile buyers, there are methods to scale back the price of a brand new or used automobile. Listed here are some suggestions from Edmunds: Know your trade value. Additional trade-in capital is your biggest negotiating tool in today’s market. Know your pre-approved rate of interest (i.e. from a credit union or bank). Even when you will have excellent credit, it’s a great idea to get pre-approved for a loan and know what rate of interest you qualify for – which helps determine how much automobile you possibly can actually afford – after which see if the dealership will match or exceed the rate of interest you possibly can get where else. Know your overall budget. With higher prices and rates of interest, you could not have the option to afford as much automobile as you’re thinking that. Along with monthly payments, consider costs including depreciation, taxes, fees, fuel, maintenance and repairs. The post The cost of financing a new car hits a record high of $656 per month, and car buyers could end up paying even more thanks to the Fed’s latest interest rate hike appeared first on Everything Auto Finance.

Top auto dealers faced F&I profit decline in Q4 but improved from Q3, spotlighting consumer interest rate challenges. Click to see 👀 the breakdown of public dealership groups’ Q4 2023 F&I earnings results.

In Q3 of 2023, the Cox Automotive Inc. Dealer Confidence Index (CADSI) revealed that #dealer confidence in the U.S. remained largely stable despite high interest rates and economic concerns significantly impacting the car market. Read More: https://bit.ly/467THQe

High prices, high interest rates and a cyberattack: Americans have had plenty of reasons to avoid car dealerships lately. It is testimony to the strength of the economy that more consumers aren’t being put off. New-vehicle sales clocked in at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 15.3 million in June, according to data provider Wards Intelligence. That was lower than forecasts—probably because many dealers’ IT systems were hit by a hack perpetrated against software supplier CDK. A return to manual workarounds in a peak selling season cost 50,000 sales, according to an initial Wards estimate. Those sales will likely come in the second half instead, boosting July’s SAAR by 0.6 million. Vehicle sales used to be a closely watched barometer of economic health, but the signals became unreliable when pandemic lockdowns and then microchip shortages limited production. From the summer of 2021 until last year, the number of cars sold depended on what was available on dealer lots. Supply has now normalized, making sales once again a useful indicator of consumer demand. Stepping back from the monthly gyrations caused by the cyberattack, a picture emerges of a market stuck in middle gear. SAAR hasn’t moved far from the 16 million mark for over a year—a big step up from the 2020 lows, but below the 17 million to 18 million considered consistent with a strong economy before the pandemic. The combination of high vehicle prices and high interest rates has likely pushed some less affluent consumers into the secondhand market. “This may be the new reality with interest rates over 7% for new vehicles,” says Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at Edmunds, the automotive-research company. Fueled by shortages, new U.S. vehicle prices peaked at roughly $50,000 at the end of 2022, according to Cox Automotive data. As supply has normalized and interest rates have risen, they have slipped to roughly $48,400, with no end to the decline in sight. Still, that is well above prepandemic levels. Discounts to sticker prices offered by manufacturers likewise continue to creep up, but remain modest by historical standards. For manufacturers, the result is a gradual erosion of profit from the record levels achieved during the era of scarcity. Among the 14 non-Chinese manufacturers with a market value above $25 billion, only Kia, Ferrari and General Motors are expected to show growth in net income this year, based on FactSet consensus numbers. The U.S. market isn’t the only reason, with the rise of Chinese automakers—still mostly within China itself—squeezing Tesla and the German manufacturers in particular.

Interesting to see how other aspects of the economy are doing in light of the current interest rates. New vehicle sales have been booming. July through September saw an increase in sales of over 16% despite increased interest rates and ever increasing price tags (average prices have now crested $45,500). Average monthly payments are now north of $730. Yet, home sales are still relatively stagnant. As a car enthusiast I certainly understand the appeal and desire for a new car, but it's wild to see so many people continuing to put so much money towards depreciating assets.

So, what’s next? After spending many years in the retail automotive industry, the prices of cars and payments have never gone down. So, what happens when the average price for a new car as of June was $48,808, and average monthly payments have surpassed $700. I am old enough to remember when we extended terms from 60 months to 72 months. What happens is terms get extended, rebates and special rates are brought to the market by the manufacturers. We’ve said forever it seems like that, this can’t continue. So, what’s next? #xpwin JimWebb.me Is now the time to buy a car? High sticker prices, interest rates have many holding off

US auto sales are expected to increase in the first half of 2024, but concerns about growing inventory levels, increasing incentives, and economic uncertainties may slow growth. Key takeaways: - U.S. auto sales are expected to be up by 2.9% compared to the previous year. - Sales growth is coming from commercial rather than consumer sales. - There is concern that the second half of the year will not maintain the same level of growth. #NNNPro #Dealership #Advisory