Metro Washington New Vehicle Sales track U.S. at mid-year, with industry poised for best annual performance since 2000
New vehicle sales in the metropolitan Washington market, January through June 2015, pretty much mirrored mid-year results from a year earlier, being 1.5% improved. But thatês good news, with the industry regionally and nationwide set to deliver the best calendar year performance since 2000, the year that new vehicle sales reached the U.S. market record of 17.4 million.
The WANADA Area Report, June YTD from R.L. Polk (see below) documents that the metropolitan region is in scoring position to eclipse 300,000 new vehicle sales in 2015 for the second consecutive year. Actual new vehicles sold in the first two quarters of 2015 in the 12 locality metro area were 156,723. Nationally, new vehicle sales, January through June, were improved 4.5% or 8.52 million, which is more than half way to 2015 sales greater than 17 million. In this regard it is noteworthy that NADA revised its earlier 2015 sales forecast from 16.9 million to 17.2 million with the mid-year sales results in hand, buttressed by strong July sales.
Each of the three months in the spring quarter regionally were better than the three winter months, the highest sales month in six being May at nearly 31,000 new units sold.
Interestingly, light trucks constituted 50% of all sales during this time frame, which is a departure for metro Washington auto consumers, who historically have purchased more cars than trucks. This is readily understandable, of course, with gasoline prices as consistently low as they have been for so long. Indeed, light truck sales climbed nearly 12 percent in the first six months of this year, as car sales dropped 7 percent.
Detroit 3 sales here constituted 30 percent of the market during this period as opposed to 45 percent nationwide, where sales of new domestic vehicles have always been stronger than regionally.
For the full WANADA Area Report for the period of June 30 YTD 2015, click here to log in to the members only section of the WANADA website.
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