Auto affordability improves in second quarter; September sales hit record high

Auto affordability improves in second quarter; September sales hit record high

Auto affordability improved slightly in the second quarter of 2012 compared with the first, according to Comerica Banks Auto Affordability Index. It took 22.9 weeks of median family income to buy and finance an average-priced new vehicle. Consumers on average spent roughly the same on new cars in the second quarter as they did in the first.

Tepid job creation and slow-to-moderate income growth in the second quarter weighed on retail sales, even though interest rates remained near historic lows, says Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica Bank in Dallas.

But September sales were the best for that month in four years, with sales up 14.5 percent from September 2011, not adjusting for business days.