Last year, Hurricanes Harvey and Irma hurt sales in several coastal markets.
U.S. light-vehicle sales in August are expected to rise from year-ago levels, when two major hurricanes crippled new-car transactions in some of the country’s largest vehicle markets, according to three forecasts.
Cox Automotive, Edmunds and J.D. Power/LMC Automotive all project gains of about 1 percent for the month. Sales events tied to Labor Day are expected to fuel much of the increase, even though transactions completed over Labor Day weekend will count toward September.
“Last year, Hurricanes Harvey and Irma made landfall during the end of the month, affecting Labor Day sales events,” Thomas King, senior vice president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power, said in a statement. “Labor Day remains one of the most heavily shopped periods in the year, accounting for nearly 3 percent of annual sales, as consumers take advantage of discounts that extend through the first weekend of September.”
The average incentive per vehicle for the first three weeks of August was down $141 from the same time last year, J.D. Power said, due to smaller discounts on sedans.
Automakers are scheduled to report U.S. deliveries for August on Tuesday, Sept. 4. The month has 27 selling days, the same as August 2017.
U.S. sales are up 1.1 percent this year through July, after falling in 2017 for the first time since the market collapse of 2008-09. Macroeconomic factors such as consumer confidence and new housing starts — which often drive pickup purchases — remain strong.
Each forecasting firm predicts a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16.8 million vehicles in August, which would mark the second consecutive month the SAAR has fallen below 17 million. Despite the favorable year-over-year comparisons this month, analysts expect a slower sales pace for the rest of the year.
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