Does Black Friday Shopping Bode Well for Auto Sales?

Shoppers skipped, jumped and even trampled their way into local malls and shops over the weekend to get, what they thought, were the best deals around. Surprisingly, the enthusiastic buyers managed to set record-breaking numbers, spending $52.4 billion, up 16% from $45 billion last year, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.

Between Thursday and Sunday, a record 226 million consumers shopped in stores and online, up 14 million from last year. The average holiday shopper shelled out $398.62, up from $365.34 in 2010.

Consumers seem to have gotten a good deal on electronics, housewares and even clothing, but is the holiday season also a good time to purchase a vehicle? TrueCar.com reported that Black Friday was indeed the best time to buy a car—saving consumers upwards of 29%. And analysts say that November sales are expected to reach a SAAR of 13.4 million, up 8% from November 2010.

For the car deals that TrueCar.com pointed out, the fun didn’t stop on Black Friday. Consumers can continue to save until the end of the month and into December. 

“It’s the end of the month, almost the end of the year, manufacturer incentives are at their peak, and dealers are motivated to move units to reach their objectives,” said Jesse Toprak, VP of Industry Trends and Insights for TrueCar.com. “Plus, dealers are typically not busy on Black Friday. It’s the perfect storm for car buying.”

So despite the still-sour economy, it looks like consumers are starting to pull their wallets out again. Can the strong Black Friday sales and the anticipated SAAR be an indicator that consumers are back on-track to spending at pre-recession levels?