Analysts didn't expect light vehicle sales will be this strong this November. The annualized selling rate adjusted for seasonal trends reached 17.8 million, the second-fastest pace of the year. While that pace is off from 18.1 million a year earlier, it’s faster than any analyst estimate in surveys. The average projection was for a 17.5 million rate.
Automakers’ results released are giving investors new evidence to determine whether the industry’s expansion is coming to an end after a record 2015 -- or if there is more room for economic-driven growth. Concerns that U.S. auto sales are slowing have depressed automakers’ shares this year, even as the companies report strong profits amid consistently high volumes.
There was a lot of incentive activity, very aggressive sales events, We’ve seen more aggressive pricing activity over the last several months in the market, and we saw a continuation of that in December.
