Fewer cars in the U.S. fleet
Carmakers come out today with December sales, and analysts are saying along with poor figures, there are fewer cars on the road. But there are signs truck and SUV sales may be healthier as gas prices decline. Amy Scott reports.
SUVs and trucks sit on a lot waiting for buyers in Norwalk, Conn. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
More on Auto Industry
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: It's no secret the American auto industry is in dire straights. A government bailout, and not just slumping sales -- abysmal sales. Today, we're gonna find out just how abysmal. Carmakers report December sales figures throughout the day, and they could be downright scary. Here's Marketplace's Amy Scott.
Amy Scott: One way the auto industry measures its health is a figure called the annual selling rate.
Jesse Toprak is with the auto research Web site Edmunds.com. He says last month, the sales rate likely fell below 10 million cars and trucks for the first time in decades. That's fewer cars than we send to the junkyard each year.
Jesse Toprak: If you just look at the number of cars that disappear from traffic, the old cars just getting scrapped, that's around 12 million, 12.5 million cars. So with a 10 million selling rate, we're actually lowering the number of cars that are in the U.S. fleet.
Fewer cars and trucks on the roads may sound good for the planet. For the economy, not so much.
There are signs the shift away from trucks and SUVs might be reversing now that gas prices have fallen back to earth. Toprak says last month, truck and SUV sales outpaced car sales for the first time all year.
In New York, I'm Amy Scott for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.