U.S. New Vehicle Sales Kept Recovering In July But Remained Below Pre-Crisis Level
As expected, U.S. New Vehicle Sales kept rebounding in July. According to Wards data, they increased by 11.3% MoM reaching 14.52M SAAR (5-month high) and beating the Bloomberg consensus of 14.0Me. It was the third consecutive monthly rise, however, July's level remained well below February's level of 16.83M SAAR (before the virus started hitting the economy).
On a YoY basis, results were mixed among automakers with Hyundai (HYMTF) (+0.6%) and Mazda (MZDAY) (+3.4%) posting positive figures for the first time since the pandemic shut down most of the dealerships this spring. In the meantime, Reuters revealed that Toyota sales fell 19% versus the same month in 2019, to 169,484 units (best month since before the pandemic shuttered North American production).
As a reminder, Ford (F), General Motors (GM), FCA (FCAU), Audi, BMW (BMWYY), JLR, MB, Nissan (NSANY), Toyota (TM), Porsche (POAHY), VW (VWAGY) now only report U.S. sales on a quarterly basis. July's spike is a positive sign in a context where surging coronavirus cases in southern and southwestern US states have increased uncertainty over the U.S. economic recovery. As a result, the auto sector should support July retail sales that should be released on August 14.