We knew that U.S. car and truck sales slipped 1.8% in January as automakers pulled back on bulk sales to rental, government and business fleets and concentrated on more profitable retail sales to individual consumers.
Fleet sales, particularly those to rental agencies, are skewed toward passenger cars, which are falling out of favor as consumers shift to sport utility vehicles and trucks. Nissan's Rogue SUV continued to be Nissan’s top seller as sales soared 45.5% in January. It’s important to notice that 62.6% of January U.S. sales were of SUVs and trucks, up from 58.2% a year ago. January sales fell 1.8 percent to 1.14 million vehicles, or a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 17.61 million vehicles, down from 17.9 million vehicles a year earlier. Industry executives are optimistic that sales could hit another record in 2017, with a boost from pro-growth economic and regulatory policies expected from President Donald Trump. Many forecasters had earlier predicted a decline in U.S. vehicle sales this year. Even with U.S. consumer confidence falling in January, households remained upbeat about the labor market, suggesting the economy would continue to grow this year.
General Motors Co. posted a 3.8% decline in January sales from a year ago, while crosstown rival Ford Motor Co said overall sales slipped by 0.6%. Honda Motor Co Ltd and Nissan Motor Co Ltd both had sales gains of 6% in January, but Toyota Motor Corpreported a surprising drop of 11%. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said January sales slid 11%, reflecting a cut in deliveries to fleets. Sales of its Jeep brand of sport utilities fell 7 %.
