Jan. 27, 2014—Cars.com, an online resource for buying and selling new and used cars, announced Monday that U.S. new vehicle sales are expected to improve 0.3 percent year over year in January despite the negative impact of recent inclement weather.
By those numbers, that would be a total of 1.045 million units sold for the month and an estimated 15.74 million for the year at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR).
"Industry sales started the year out on a relatively positive note and would have been even better if it wasn't for the inclement weather negatively impacting car shopping in several major markets," said Jesse Toprak, chief analyst for Cars.com. "We expect the total sales to grow by nearly 900,000 units (5.7 percent) in 2014, fueled by new products, an improved macro-economic landscape, and attractive lease and finance specials."
Key highlights for January 2014 sales forecast:
For January 2014, new light vehicle sales in the U.S. (including fleet) are expected to be 1,045,628 units, up 0.3 percent from January 2013 and down 22.9 percent from December 2013.
The January 2014 forecast translates into a Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate (SAAR) of 15.7 million new car sales, up 2.1 percent from December 2013 and up 3.3 percent over January 2013.
Retail sales are expected to account for 83% of all sales in January 2014, virtually unchanged year-over-year from January 2013.
