Econoday Report: Motor Vehicle Sales January 5, 2009

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Motor Vehicle Sales

Released on 1/5/2009 For Dec, 2008

	Prior	Consensus	Consensus Range	Actual
Domestic Vehicle Sales	7.6 M	7.4 M	7.0 M to 8.2 M	7.7 M

Highlights
Car and light truck sales were extremely weak in December but not quite as weak as November, pointing to the possibility of a much needed month-to-month gain for the motor vehicle category. Unit sales of North American made vehicles in December edged up to a 7.7 million annual rate, next only to November as the lowest rate in 20 years of records. Bankruptcy in the auto sector is perhaps the biggest risk of the first quarter. Chain stores will issue their results on Thursday to fill out the outlook for next week's retail sales report.

Market Consensus Before Announcement
Sales of domestic motor vehicles in November came in at a 7.5 million annual unit rate for domestic-made models - little changed from October. Levels unfortunately are at lows not seen since the early 1980s. Sales are not likely to pick up much in December despite incentives from dealers as the job situation has worsened, credit is still tight, and consumers are worried about U.S. manufacturers still facing the strong possibility of bankruptcy.

Motor vehicle domestic sales Consensus Forecast for November 08: 7.4 million-unit rate
Range: 7.0 to 8.2 million-unit rate

Definition
Unit sales of domestically produced cars and light duty trucks (including sport utility vehicles and mini-vans). Individual manufacturers report usually report sales on the first business day of the month. Motor vehicle sales are good indicators of trends in consumer spending. Why Investors Care

Motor vehicles sales slowed notably in 2006 as a result of higher interest rates and a jump in gasoline prices but remained at reasonable levels due to strong income growth. Late in 2006 and in early 2007, gasoline prices were down from 2006 highs but moderating economic growth kept sales from rebounding. Truck shares hit their peak in 2005 when gasoline was cheap and remain sharply lower since gasoline prices spiked in 2006.

Data Source: Haver Analytics

2009 Release Schedule

Released On: 1/5 2/3 3/3 4/1 5/1 6/2 7/1 8/3 9/1 10/1 11/3 12/1

Released For: Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

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