A breakdown of US auto industry performance in October with Charlie Chesbrough

New-vehicle sales volume has been stuck around the 1.1 million mark for several months. On today’s Inside Automotive, Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist and senior director of industry automotive of Cox Automotive, shares his take on the U.S auto industry fared in October of 2022.

“The October sales were a bit of a pleasant surprise, they held up really well, and we had one of the largest selling paces that we have had since the beginning of the year, at a 14.9 million pace,” Chesbrough reports.

The volume, however, didn’t change as much but, what’s interesting is the normal downtick stayed up after the Labor day sales and gearing toward the big end-of-the-year holiday sales.

The fared inventory situation has significantly improved and the chip shortage will continue to impact production even into 2023. With more fleet activity, it suggests inventory is changing on the ground.

On the other hand, the predictions and expectations Chesbrough intends to see within the last two months of the year are; supply disruptions improving and manufacturers still pointing the finger at COVID and chip shortages for holding back their business.

In terms of sales, as inventories rebuild, dealers are watching for certain models undergoing heavy discounting. With interest rates ranging from 1.9 to 2.9% financing, the appending recession has not been a huge concern for both customers and dealerships. Numbers show there are not as many leasing-constrained buyers, but the bottom line is dealers are going to be very targeted with the way they help their customers.

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