October U.S. sales predicted to rise 11% with 14.8M annual rate
Reprints
Print
Respond
LAS VEGAS -- U.S. light-vehicle sales will rise 11 percent to 1.13 million units in October from a year earlier, J.D. Power and Associates predicted today.
October's seasonally adjusted annual selling rate is expected to be 14.8 million, down slightly from September's 14.9 million rate. But at 14.8 million, the sales rate would still be the second-highest since March 2008. The rate has not exceeded 15 million since February 2008.
The sales rate this year has remained above 14 million in all but two months, January and May.
For the year, J.D. Power expects U.S. light-vehicle sales of 14.4 million units, an increase of 100,000 units from the previous forecast. Consumer demand is driving up the forecast. J.D. Power now expects retail U.S. light-vehicle sales to hit 11.7 million units, up from the prior forecast of 11.6 million.
Deirdre Borrego, vice president of J.D. Power's U.S. automotive operations, said at the J.D. Power Automotive Marketing Roundtable here that the economy is still "a little fragile. But we are seeing some good news on the jobs front, which is expected to get better next year post-election, interest rates are at all-time lows and are expected to stay that way until 2015 and we're seeing some positive signs from a consumer sentiment standpoint."
You can reach Ryan Beene at rbeene@crain.com. -- Follow Ryan on 
