Chicago 01/06/2016 - American consumers maintained a healthy buying clip through May, although the sales pace has stalled in recent months after a record 2015.
Seasonally adjusted, annualised new-vehicle selling rate (SAAR) for May was 17.45 million, according to research firm Autodata, a touch below Edmunds.com SAAR estimates of 17.5 million.
"It's easy to look at May's sales and conclude that the retail car market is losing steam, but it's too soon to say for sure that auto sales are leveling off," Jessica Caldwell,Edmunds.com Director of Industry Analysis, said. "As in previous years, the summer months will flush out more incentives from automakers and the urgency that shoppers show in responding to these incentives will give the industry a much better sense of how the market is trending."
Ford US sales fell 6.1 percent to 234,748 units in May, which was slightly below the forecast of 242,771. But of particular note, light trucks and sport-utility-vehicles grew over four percent to 169,943 vehicles sold.
Specifically, Ford F-Series saw a nine percent surge in pickups to 67,412, bringing total pickup sales to 324,307 for the year.
"Customers are showing how much they value the fuel economy, towing capability and technology we offer in our trucks with F-Series sales producing another strong gain in May," Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service, said. "With strong demand for pickups, vans and SUVs, Ford brand saw average prices grow almost $1,500 per vehicle in May – about 50 percent higher than the industry."
General Motors' total sales fell 18.0 percent to 240,450 vehicles, compared with 293,097 sold in the previous year. The Detroit-based company cited reduced number of selling days and very tight supplies of new launched products for the downturn.
Edmunds.com had forecasted a 13.1 percent dip to 254,643 vehicles.
As for the others, Toyota reported a 9.6 percent decline in sales to 219,339 units, while Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) reported that US sales rose 1.1 percent.