In July 2016, US truck sales stood at 0.92 million units, which is 8.7% higher than the 0.85 million units in July 2015. By contrast, US car sales in July 2016 fell to 0.58 million units as compared to 0.65 million units in July 2015. This car sales data suggests a YoY (year-over-year) decline of 9.8%. Let’s take a closer look.
The SAAR (seasonally adjusted annual rate) of US truck sales jumped to 10.91 million in July 2016, which was much higher than the SAAR of 10.1 million units one month previously. In July 2015, the SAAR of US truck sales was reported at 9.97 million vehicles, while the SAAR for US car sales SAAR fell to 6.83 million units in July 2016 from 7.56 million units in July 2015, but this was still higher than the 6.59 million units in June 2016.
Low interest rates in the US and cheap gasoline could be seen as primary reasons for the growing demand for trucks and utility vehicles in the US. Mainstream automakers such as General Motors (GM), Ford Motor (F), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCAU), and Toyota Motor (TM) are benefiting from this trend because trucks tend to have higher margins than cars have.
