DETROIT: US auto sales will fall to about 17.2 million new vehicles next year from an expected 17.4 million in 2016, to be followed by further softening in 2018, industry consultant and publication WardsAuto said.
WardsAuto analyst Haig Stoddard said 2018 will be the near-term low for US sales, and that they will rise slightly in 2019, but through 2023 will not match records reached last year and this one.
Stoddard, speaking at WardsAuto industry conference, said consumer discounts as a percentage of new vehicle selling prices have been at record highs in recent months.
Automakers’ discipline in keeping profit-eating discounts in check would be tested in the early months of 2017, he said.
Paul Traub, senior business economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, also pointed to the same issue as key to coming sales levels. — Reuters
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