Steel Markets
November 20, 2014
US Vehicle Sales & NAFTA Vehicle Production
Written by Peter Wright
Total light vehicle sales were little changed in October at 16.5 million units, up from 16.4 million in September, both on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis. The spread between light trucks and autos, which in September was one million units in favor of light trucks, decreased to 0.5 million.
On a y/y basis total light vehicle sales in October were up by 6.1 percent as a result of a 9.0 increase in light truck sales and 2.9 percent increase in automobile sales. The Detroit three accounted for 45.7 percent of October sales and Japanese manufacturers achieved a share of just under 32 percent. Import market share was 20.6 percent down from 22.5 percent in June. Moody’s Analytics expects vehicle sales to remain well above 16 million units in the near term and approach near 17 million units in 2015.
