Sep 2022

Rising Interest Rates Stall Vehicle Demand

Cox Automotive cut its full-year new-vehicle sales outlook to 13.7 million — down more than 9% from 2021 and the industry’s lowest tally in a decade. “It seems likely that much of the pent-up demand from limited supply is quickly disappearing as high interest rates eat away at vehicle buyers’ willingness and ability to purchase,” Chesbrough said.

S&P Global Mobility analysts expect U.S. light-vehicle sales to be limited to 1.1 million units this month, with the seasonally adjusted annualized rate set to come in at 13.4 million, up from 12.38 million in September 2021, but well below the 15 million sales level the industry considers ideal and the 17 million sales set from 2015 to 2019.