November is coming to an end which means sales predictions for the month are starting to roll in. Although the figures are far from official, preliminary reports suggest that November will be slightly better than October, but still way off the pace of 2007.
Edmunds.com is forecasting that the U.S.’ November sales will tally 850,000 units. That figure represents a 27.6 percent decrease from November 2007, but is actually up 1.9 percent from last month – one of the worst sales months on record.
Although it’s encouraging to see that sales could recover slightly in November, Jesse Toprak, Edmunds.com executive director of industry analysis, warns that the auto industry may not have bottomed out quite yet. “I think it’s a little early to draw a strong encouragement from it,” Toprak told Automotive News. “If we’re at least flat or higher (month to month) in December, it may be an early indication that the market has bottomed out.”
Chrysler is predicted to see the biggest decline in new car sales – with a sharp plunge of 41.7 percent – while Honda is expected to fair the best of the Big Six, sliding ‘just’ 20.6 percent.
However, November could end up much worse if the Big Three decide to heavily restrict fleet sales. The Big Three might decide to limit fleet sales in order to show Congress just how bad their sales really are.
