It Was A Healthy Month For The Car Industry
August Was Solid, But The Rest of the Year ….
New-vehicle sales in August were surprisingly robust but the outlook for the rest of the year is clouded, as the housing slowdown and lending crunch threaten to reduce people’s interest new cars. Sales of cars and light trucks (which includes pickups and SUVs) have been up and down this year as strong employment and low inflation have offset high fuel prices and the tough housing market. Today’s numbers did little to clarify the overall trend.The rise in home foreclosures and the falloff in home sales has hurt auto sales because many people were using proceeds from refinancings to purchase cars.
However, there is little evidence so far that the collapse in the market for lending to home buyers with spotty credit records is directly affecting vehicle sales, the auto companies said. The drop in gasoline prices last month may have helped boost pickup and SUV sales, which were up 3.8% in August compared with a 5.3% drop in car sales.
