Steel Markets
January 26, 2016
US Vehicle Sales & NAFTA Vehicle Production for December 2015
Written by Peter Wright
In December, vehicle sales in the US eased from the blistering pace of the previous 3 months. Sales fell from 18.2 million in each of the months September, October and November to 17.3 million in December. All numbers quoted here are seasonally adjusted annual rates. For the full year of 2015, sales were 17.3 million units, the best since 2006.
In 2015 the mix of autos and trucks was 7.7 million and 9.7 million. Light trucks includes crossovers. Sales in December were 2.5 percent higher than the same month a year ago. There is still some pent up demand resulting from the destruction of household wealth in the recession but the pace of sales is expected to slow in 2016. Ford’s F series sales have not been adversely affected by the use of more aluminum in the F150. The F series racked up 85,211 sales units in December, the first time in over 10 years to exceed 85,000 units. In each of the last 6 months of 2015, F series sales achieved year over year gains.
