by Calculated Risk on 12/20/2024 02:45:00 PM

From WardsAuto: December U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales Brighten Lackluster Year; Unusually High Drain on Inventory (pay content).  Brief excerpt:

Improved affordability is the main thrust to the end-of-year improvement in demand, with higher consumer confidence also likely a contributing factor. But uncertainty over next year could be pulling sales into December, as some consumers could be expecting prices to rise depending on the extent of tariff increases or the possibility that EV credits will be eliminated.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

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

On a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis, the Wards forecast of 16.7 million SAAR, would be up 1.2% from last month, and up 4.9% from a year ago.