Automotive Dealer's Weekly Update 10-20-2023

The Automotive Advisor Team

Economic Update:

Retail sales rose 0.7% in September, stronger than expected, extending the 0.8% gain in August. It was the sixth straight month with retail spending growth. Retail sales increased 0.6% for the month, excluding motor vehicles and gasoline. Overall, Americans continue to open their pocketbooks, providing some resilience in the U.S. economy amid many challenges. Over the past 12 months, retail spending rose 3.8%, or 4.0% year-to-date growth with motor vehicle and gasoline station sales excluded.

The September data were mostly higher. Consumer spending growth was led by strength among miscellaneous store retailers (up 3.0%), non-store retailers (up 1.1%), motor vehicles and parts dealers (up 1.0%), food services and drinking places (up 0.9%), gasoline stations (up 0.9%) and health and personal care stores (up 0.8%), among others. In contrast, retail sales were lower for clothing and accessories stores (down 0.8%), electronics and appliance stores (down 0.8%), and building material and garden supply stores (down 0.2%).

 Retailers with the largest increases in spending over the past 12 months included food services and drinking places (up 9.2%), non-store retailers (up 8.4%), health and personal care stores (up 8.3%), and motor vehicles and parts dealers (up 6.2%). At the same time, sizable year-over-year declines in retail sales occurred for furniture and home furnishings stores (down 5.9%), department stores (down 4.7%), building material and garden supply stores (down 4.0%) and gasoline stations (3.5%), among others.

Retail Sales: Cox Automotive Data

The retail used-vehicle sales estimates based on registration data generally align with the used sales estimates based on observed changes in advertised units tracked by…….READ MORE HERE.