January Vehicle Sales Projected to Hit 10-Year High
2015 has started right for retail sales.
January new vehicle sales are expected to reach 932,100 units, for a SAAR of 13.9 million units, up nearly 1 million units from 2014, according to projections by J.D. Power & Associates and LMC Automotive. The companies predict that the sales figures for Jan. 2015 will reach a 10-year high for the month — actually eleven years, going all the way back to Jan. 2004.
January figures are a forecast based on the first 13 selling days of the month.
The five weekends in January 2015 create a vehicle sales advantage, a representative from JD Power told Auto Finance News. Jan. 2015 has one more selling day than Jan. 2014, and also featured milder weather for much of the nation.
Total new vehicle retail sales for the month are up 7.7% from Jan. 2014, according to the report, which also predicts that 55.4% of new vehicle sales will be comprised of trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles. Low gas prices were credited with the spike in larger vehicle sales.
LMC Automotive said 2014 saw 13.6 million retail light-vehicle sales, and predicts 14 million for 2015.
