Year in Review the Automotive Winners and Losers of 2017
The U.Southward. auto industry's historic growth streak may be ending, just demand for new cars and trucks remains good for you equally the new year begins.
U.Due south. sales of new vehicles are expected to autumn 2 percentage to 17.1 million in 2017, according to Kelley Blueish Book in Irvine. That would be the first year-over-year decline since 2009, ending an unprecedented vii-year expansion.
General Motors, Toyota and Ford all reported a 1 percent declines in sales final twelvemonth compared to 2016. Fiat Chrysler's sales fell 8 pct. Honda's sales were flat, while Nissan's rose 2 percent. Volkswagen make sales rose v percentage.
Mazda, with its U.Due south. base of operations in Irvine, saw a similar yr-over-yr pass up, slipping 2.8 pct. Its December sales were off half dozen.5 percentage in a month that had fewer selling days. Mazda, which has been retreating from fleet sales, saw its retail sales for 2017 increase a scant 0.2 pct, with 278,124 vehicles sold.
Hyundai Motor America in Fountain Valley reported its December sales were up 2 pct while 2017 totals slid 12 per centum for Hyundai and Genesis branded vehicles. The automaker is also narrowing its fleet sales. In a statement, the automaker said its SUV sales were the strongest ever, claiming 36 percent of all sales for the year.
Still a good year
While U.S. sales overall are probable to fall brusk of 2016's record of 17.55 1000000, 2017 is however expected to be the quaternary-best sales year in U.Southward. history.
Analysts think sales will fall a bit further this year. While low unemployment and rising consumer confidence are expected to heave need, rising interest rates could arrive more expensive for people to finance new vehicles.
"That'southward real coin to consumers," said Charlie Chesbrough, a senior economist with Cox Automotive, which owns AutoTrader.com and other car-buying sites.
Vehicles are also becoming more durable so many consumers aren't buying new ones, which further puts a drag on sales. The average historic period of vehicles on the route has climbed to xi.6 years, up from viii.8 years in 1998.
Leasing trend grows
The growing popularity of leasing will take a big impact on 2018 sales. Almost one-third of new vehicle sales were leases in 2015, and many of those 4 million lessees will be trading in their vehicles for new ones, according to the motorcar buying site Edmunds.com.
Only leasing too has a downside for automakers, since the influx of late-model used cars returning to the marketplace will cut into sales of new vehicles.
Tax cuts also could be a mixed approval. They will likely stimulate demand, particularly for commercial trucks and vans, Ford says. Simply the more the economy grows, the more likely it is that the government volition raise involvement rates, Chesbrough said.
More December and 2017 details
WINNERS AND LOSERS: Ford's F-Series pickup truck remained the best-selling vehicle in the U.Due south. in 2017, a championship it has at present held for 36 years. Ford sold 896,764 F-Serial trucks in the U.S. last year, or nearly two trucks every minute. F-Series sales rose 9 percent for the year, in function because of postal service-hurricane need in Texas and Florida. Motorcar-heavy brands had the toughest time winning customers, who were flocking to SUVs. Chrysler, Contrivance and Fiat all saw their sales drop past double-digit percentages. Toyota Prius hybrid sales plummeted 20.5 percent.
LUXURY CROWN: Mercedes-Benz dethroned BMW every bit the best-selling luxury brand in the U.South. in 2016, and it's likely to agree on to that title in 2017. Through November, Mercedes had sold 332,990 vehicles; BMW was far behind, battling it out with Lexus for second identify. But overall, some luxury brands were struggling. Cadillac and Lexus both saw their sales drop viii percentage last year; Lincoln sales plummeted 17 percent in December. Marker LaNeve, Ford's U.S. sales master, said mainstream brands are getting so luxurious that many buyers don't feel the demand to step upwards to a luxury label.
PILING ON THE DEALS: New vehicle prices hit a record last year, averaging $36,113 as buyers bought bigger SUVs and added more safe and infotainment features, Kelley Blueish Book said. At the same fourth dimension, automakers piled on deals in order to juice sales and hang on to their market share. Final month, Chevrolet was offer upward to $xi,000 off on a 2017 Silverado pickup. Automakers spent an average of $4,302 per vehicle in incentives final month, passing the previous record set in November and $300 college than last December, according to the consulting firm J.D. Ability. Analysts say they're expecting a pullback in incentive spending this year as automakers cut back on inventory. But at that place volition still be good deals, especially on slow-selling vehicles like midsize sedans.
cairndufftruiessinter.blogspot.com
Source: https://www.ocregister.com/2018/01/03/winners-and-losers-2017-auto-sales-flatten-but-some-brands-stand-out/