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Bloomberg
Deep dealmaking wrapped in a
holiday bow brought US carbuyers back into showrooms in late November, saving a month whose first half was dominated by a nasty political campaign.
“Fifty percent of the people were convinced the world was going to end no matter what happened†with the presidential election, said Sean Sellers, general manager of Charles Gabus Ford in Des Moines, Iowa. “It took some of those people out of the market†at the start of the month.
Automakers and dealers drew from a grab bag of holiday-season tricks to sustain sales. General Motors Co. dangled 20 percent discounts nationwide on its Chevrolet, GMC and Buick brands in November, and luxury automakers revived
annual promotions such as “the Season of Audi†and Lexus’s “December to Remember.†And even though Ford Motor Co. tightened some discounts, Sellers raised his own store’s sales numbers on Black Friday by opening at 5 a.m. and offering a 65-inch
4K TV to anyone who bought a new Ford that day.
Total light-vehicle sales probably rose about 3.8 percent in November, according to the average estimates of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. After accounting for two extra selling days this November, the annualized rate is projected to drop to 17.7mn vehicles — still above this year’s average — from 18.2 million a year earlier, the strongest month of 2015. The projections reinforce the idea that industrywide sales, while at a high level, have plateaued and become more reliant on incentives.
Analysts’ estimates for individual companies are mixed. With incentives topping $10,000 on some Silverado pickups and Suburban sport utility vehicles, GM is projected to post a solid 9.1 percent November sales increase. Toyota Motor Corp. may rise 3.4 percent while other large foreign automakers including Honda Motor Co. log bigger gains. Ford, which cut back on fleet sales compared with last November, may fall less than 1 percent.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s US unit is projected to report the biggest decline for the month, about 9 percent, after paring truck incentives compared with October.
Incentives that were introduced in November may ultimately help determine whether 2016 ends up as a record seventh straight year with an industrywide sales gain. Many of the automakers’ deals pegged to Black Friday actually run all through November and some stick around the rest of the year.