Steel Markets
August 21, 2015
US Vehicle Sales and NAFTA Vehicle Production in July 2015
Written by Peter Wright
Following the exceptional rate of vehicle sales in the US in May the June rate fell from 17.8 million annualized to 17.2 million then bounced back to 17.5 million in July. This was the second best month of the year. Light trucks continued to pull ahead of automobiles. In July LT sales which includes crossovers were 9.7 million units and cars were 7.8 million. Imports fell from 3.7 million units to 3.5 million for an import market share of exactly 20 percent. Import market share has been trending down this year and is well below the 30 percent level reached in early 2009.
Total light vehicle (LV) production in NAFTA in July was at an annual rate of 15.557 million units, down from 18.543 in June. On average since 2004, July’s production has been 29.2 percent lower than June as auto companies take their annual tooling shutdown. July this year was down by 16.1 percent (Figure 1).
