New vehicle sales, inventory, and prices rise in December 2022

According to a forecast analysis conducted by Cox Automotive, December US car sales are expected to grow 4% year over year to 1.27 million units. However, those results probably fall short of his typical 1.5 million units sold in December, when the automaker pushes its end-of-year marketing campaigns. Total sales in 2022 are likely to fall below 14 million units, the lowest since 2011.

“There weren’t as many giant red bows as dealers liked in December this year,” said Charles Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox Automotive. Press release“Rising interest rates now appear to be holding back demand in the retail auto market given that supply levels have improved significantly. The pool of people is shrinking.”

Years of semiconductor shortages and supply bottlenecks following the COVID-19 outbreak have kept inventories low and minimizing vehicle production. As factories ramp up production this year, automakers may have to cut costs to attract buyers.

Ah Joint prediction The average new car transaction price in December is likely to reach a new monthly high of $46,382, up 2.5% from December 2021, according to LMC Automotive and JD Power. Average incentive spending per unit in December is also expected to drop to $1,187 from $1,511 a year ago.

These conditions have also increased the number of auto loan defaults.November report from trans union 1.65% of Q3 loans were at least 60 days in arrears.

On the other hand, used car prices fallwhich influences the trade-in value that many consumers use to offset the cost of a new car.

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