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U.S. car sales numbers for 2024 are expected to break previous years’ figures, with better buying conditions contributing to higher year-end sales momentum, according to automotive services company Cox Automotive.
U.S. new auto sales are expected to hit roughly 15.85 million units this year, up from 15.55 million in 2023. If the estimates turn out to be true, it would be the highest number of new vehicles sold in the country since 2019. The fourth-quarter boost in sales is a result of factors like falling interest rates and better consumer confidence, with the trend expected to continue well into next year. In 2025, Cox expects new vehicle sales to jump to 16.3 million units.
Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at the company, said there is now a “bit of a bump up in sales” since the U.S. election is over. Prices of new vehicles rose in both October and November, with December projected to see an uptick as well.
General Motors is forecast to be the No. 1 car brand in the United States in terms of vehicles sold, with more than 2.68 million units sold in 2024. This was followed by Toyota, Ford, Hyundai, and Honda.
Stellantis is projected to perform the worst, estimated to fall by 15 percent, followed by Tesla with more than 6 percent decline. This would be the first time since 2014 that Tesla registered a year-over-year decline in sales.
Automotive information website Edmunds predicts the United States will register 15.98 million new vehicle sales this year, slightly higher than Cox’s 15.85 million estimate.
“Affordability (or lack thereof) in the new vehicle market was the recurring theme of 2024,” said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’s head of insights. However, things started getting better “as inventory continued to improve, stronger incentives trickled back into the market, and new vehicle interest rates declined after peaking in May.”
Vehicle Sales in 2025 are expected to benefit from ongoing economic momentum, with S&P Global experts forecasting “lower borrowing costs, reduced monthly payments, and increased consumer confidence” given the recent rate cuts announced by the Fed.
By Naveen Athrappully | The Epoch Times
