ARLINGTON, Va.—Total vehicle sales in January decreased to 17.16 million annualized units after posting strong sales in December, according to a new report.
NAFCU Research Assistant Yun Cohen expects vehicle sales to slow further in 2018 as "pent-up demand from earlier years has mostly evaporated."
She added in a NAFCU Macro Data Flash report that "tightening standards on auto loans and upcoming interest rate hikes pose additional headwinds for the market."
According to Autodata Corp. data just released, January sales levels were down 1.6% from a year ago.
Car sales decreased from 6.1 million annualized units to 5.8 million annualized units during January; sales of light trucks decreased from 11.8 million annualized units to 11.4 million annualized units, Cohen said.
"Sales continue to shift from passenger cars to light trucks," said Cohen. "The latter now represents a record high of 66.4% of the market."
Three of the six largest automakers reported gains in their year-over-year sales numbers. Toyota's sales increased 16.8% from last year, followed by Nissan (+10%) and General Motors (+1.3%). Fiat Chrysler Automobiles sales were down 12.8% from last January, followed by Ford (-6.3%) and Honda (-1.7%), Cohen said.
The U.S. brand share of the total vehicle market was 42.6% in January, down from 45% in December. The share of domestically assembled vehicles decreased from 78.1% to 77.8%, Cohen noted.