U.S. light-vehicle sales are expected to finish the year up slightly from 2017, defying forecasts that almost unanimously called for the industry to post a second consecutive annual decline.
Higher fleet deliveries, low unemployment and Tesla’s rapid production ramp-up are among the reasons that sales likely increased in the face of rising interest rates and vehicle prices, analysts say.
December is on pace to be the second-strongest month of 2018, with sales of about 1.6 million vehicles pushing the year’s total volume to nearly 17.3 million, according to forecasts issued this week by J.D. Power/LMC Automotive, Cox Automotive and Edmunds. Automakers sold 17.24 million vehicles in 2017 — the fourth-best year on record, pending this month’s results.
