Steel Markets
Harvey Hits Auto Sales in August
Written by Sandy Williams
September 7, 2017
U.S. automakers sold 1.48 million vehicles in August, a 1.9 percent drop from a year ago. A portion of that decline was the loss of an estimated 20,000 sales from the Houston area during the last week of August.
Houston is the ninth-largest vehicle market in the U.S., and sales are expected to rebound as consumers replace autos damaged in Hurricane Harvey. Kelly Blue Book estimates as many as 300,000 to 400,000 vehicles will need to be replaced. Some dealerships in the Houston area escaped damage, while others report total loss of inventory.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate was estimated at 16 million units by WardsAuto, significantly below the 16.5 million SAAR forecast. The storm impact is likely to keep the industry from reaching the 17 million mark that it surpassed in 2015 and 2016.
Of the Detroit Three automakers, only General Motors’ sales grew year-over-year, up 7.5 percent. Toyota turned in its third consecutive gain in August.
Car sales slipped 13.1 percent from August 2016, while truck sales dipped 1.1 percent for the first decline since last November.
Sandy Williams
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