U.S. Auto Sales Have Collapsed, but the Worst May Be in the Rear View Mirror
J.D. Power on Wednesday delivered U.S. auto sales data that was one part devastating and one part encouraging. The country's retail vehicle sales are down roughly 50% from where they were forecast to be prior to the coronavirus pandemic. That's a massive drop-off -- but not as steep as the ones experienced by China and Western Europe during the first full months after COVID-19 initially impacted them, according to Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive, a partner of J.D. Power.
The retail sales decline likely would have been even worse had automakers not moved rapidly to bolster their online sales capabilities and marketing, and offered 0% financing and other incentives.
"We're now expecting a pattern that is more of a sustained level of a 40 percent to 50 percent decline over a longer period of time, instead of the really deep hit and then a relatively quick recovery," Schuster told Automotive News.
Source Fool.com
