by Calculated Risk on 1/24/2024 06:59:00 PM

From WardsAuto: January U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales Lukewarm; Unusually Strong Increase to Inventory Expected (pay content).  Brief excerpt:

There is upside to January’s sales outlook, which could help alleviate excesses, but rising inventory for some vehicles, including electric vehicles, fullsize pickups and SUVs, plus some individual models in other segments, is leading to some Q1 production slowdowns. However, overall inventory remains lean relative to demand, and production for the U.S. market is forecast to continue growing.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows actual sales from the BEA (Blue), and Wards forecast for January (Red).

On a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis, the Wards forecast of 15.4 million SAAR, would be down 2.7% from last month, and up 2% from a year ago.