We were already convinced Austin won’t be affected by the US car market getting cooler, since it had such a great 2017 start, but it seems like nothing’s forever. According to sales at Austin dealerships consumers bought only 10,919 new vehicles during this month, comparing to 11,183 cars the same month last year.
The recent slowdown is in contrast to the first two months of the year, which saw booming sales. January car sales were up 10.4 percent and February sales surged 22.4 percent over the same months in 2016. Thanks to that strong start, through the end of May Austin-area new vehicles sales remain ahead of their pace through the same timeframe in 2016, with sales up 3.1 percent year-over-year. For the first five months of the year, local dealers sold 51,419 new cars, trucks, vans and SUVs, compared with 49,837 for the same period in 2016.
The recent car sales decline in the Austin metro area mirrors that of the rest of the nation, as U.S. auto sales fell for the fifth straight month in May. For the full year, auto industry analysts are now projecting that U.S. sales will fall short of last year’s record 17.5 million new vehicles sold.
