by Calculated Risk on 9/01/2020 06:35:00 PM

Wards estimated light vehicle sales of 15.19 million SAAR in August 2020 (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate), up 4.6% from the July sales rate, and down 11.0% from August 2019.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows light vehicle sales since 2006 from the BEA (blue) and an estimate for August from Wards 2020 (red).

The impact of COVID-19 was significant, and April was the worst month.

Since April, sales have increased, but are still down 11.0% from last year.

The second graph shows light vehicle sales since the BEA started keeping data in 1967.

Note: dashed line is current estimated sales rate of 15.19 million SAAR.

I'll have more when the BEA releases their August estimate tomorrow.