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Laugh all you want at people camping outside the shops ahead of Black Friday, but they’re the ones keeping the economy alive and kicking. Presuming they also have a job or work somehow, of course.
The month that’s about to end might prove to be the best November month ever in the history of US car sales if forecasts by TrueCar and Edmunds.com are to be believed, with a lot of the success being attributed to special sales happening particularly on Black Friday, but also to the recovering economy.
However, not everybody sees eye-to-eye with these two, with another two parties saying the numbers could match those from one year ago, or even fall a little behind. They base this less optimistic forecast on the fact that this year’s November had less selling days than last year’s.
The real icing on the cake is that unless a lot of people decide this December is the worst month ever to buy a new car, we’re looking at what could be the best-selling year in the auto industry in the US, beating the previous record of 17.402 million units set in 2000. Some forecasters are even adjusting their quotas on this last patch, the number of Americans buying new cars this year having taken them by surprise. For instance, LMC Automotive added 200,000 more units to its initial calculations for a total of 17.5 million cars.
It’s not just volumes that are on the rise but also the average transaction values. Quoted by Automotive News, John Humphrey, senior vice president of the global automotive practice at J.D. Power, said, “So far in the month, the average transaction price of $31,498 is the highest level ever for any November and the second highest for any month.” The number to beat is $31,519, which was recorded in December 2014.
The trend is expected to go on into 2016, with analysts talking about a possible figure of 17.8 million units at the end of next year. Whatever the case, the good news is that the industry is showing strong and consistent signs of recovery, which means the only way now is up.
However, not everybody sees eye-to-eye with these two, with another two parties saying the numbers could match those from one year ago, or even fall a little behind. They base this less optimistic forecast on the fact that this year’s November had less selling days than last year’s.
The real icing on the cake is that unless a lot of people decide this December is the worst month ever to buy a new car, we’re looking at what could be the best-selling year in the auto industry in the US, beating the previous record of 17.402 million units set in 2000. Some forecasters are even adjusting their quotas on this last patch, the number of Americans buying new cars this year having taken them by surprise. For instance, LMC Automotive added 200,000 more units to its initial calculations for a total of 17.5 million cars.
It’s not just volumes that are on the rise but also the average transaction values. Quoted by Automotive News, John Humphrey, senior vice president of the global automotive practice at J.D. Power, said, “So far in the month, the average transaction price of $31,498 is the highest level ever for any November and the second highest for any month.” The number to beat is $31,519, which was recorded in December 2014.
The trend is expected to go on into 2016, with analysts talking about a possible figure of 17.8 million units at the end of next year. Whatever the case, the good news is that the industry is showing strong and consistent signs of recovery, which means the only way now is up.
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