- For May 2011, new light vehicle sales in the U.S. (including fleet) is expected to be 1,060,392 units, down 3.7 percent from May 2010 and down 8.3 percent from April 2011 (on an unadjusted basis)
- The May 2011 forecast translates into a Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate (SAAR) of 11.85 million new car sales, down from 13.18 million in April 2011 and up from 11.63 million in May 2010
- Retail sales are down 10.7 percent compared to April 2011 and down 3.1 percent from May 2010
- Fleet and rental sales are expected to make up 23 percent of total industry sales in May 2011
- The industry average incentive spending per unit will be approximately $2,017 in May 2011, which represents a drop of 13.1 percent from April 2011 and down 28.9 percent from May 2010
- Used car sales are estimated to be 3,814,291, up 3.4 percent from April 2011 and down 8.9 percent from May 2010. The ratio of new to used is estimated to be 1:4 for May 2011
"Inventory constraints finally hit the Japanese automakers this month but the recovery in supply appears quicker than first anticipated," said Jesse Toprak, VP of Industry Trends and Insights for TrueCar.com. "Current inventory shortages and perceived inventory shortages led to the lowest incentive spending in nearly nine years and the lowest SAAR of the year. This is a sizeable speed bump on the road to recovery."
"High gas prices affected large truck sales dramatically hurting GM and Ford but because of their better balanced product portfolio, due to their new fuel-efficient models, they were able to weather the storm with no major damage," continued Toprak.
