For the fifth time in seven months, J.D. Power and LMC Automotive are predicting a year-over-year decline in new-vehicle retail sales for September. But officials with both firms said the numbers don't point to significant weakness or risk, but the firm does see challenges ahead.
LMC Automotive has revised its forecast for U.S. auto sales for the 2016-2023 periods. The company expects nearly 250,000 fewer units will be sold each year during that timeframe, with a larger reduction occurring between 2016 and 2017.
J.D. Power and LMC Automotive said this week that consumers are on pace to spend more than $32 billion on new vehicles this month, a first for the month of February. The two firms noted, however, that their projected 13.9 million retail SAAR is the lowest level since June and well below the 15.3 million pace set last September.
The two firms expect January total light-vehicle sales to total 1.1 million units, while the January SAAR is expected to have reached 16.8 million units. LMC Automotive said its sales forecast for 2016 remains at 17.8 million units.
Total light-vehicle retail sales are expected to reach 1.3 million units in February, the highest total for the month since 2002, according to projections from J.D. Power and LMC Automotive.
New-vehicle retail sales in March are showing signs of improvement following slower-than-expected sales in the first two months of 2014, J.D. Power and LMC Automotive report.
Early returns for the month of February show sales of light vehicles rebounding after being hampered by severe weather disruptions in much of the United States.
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