January Lull Leads to February Spike

Statistics for the automotive industry in the month of January can be a bit deceiving. Why? As we wrap up the end of a year, there are many car sales and deals available, especially during the holidays. To help boost a dealership’s end of year sales, many dealerships across the country offer discounts during the Christmas and New Year holidays; deals which many people take advantage of. So naturally, January’s sales seem to be a bit lower compared to the success in a month like December.

According to Edmunds.com, deals during the holiday season of 2009 were not as good as deals found in other times of the year. The next round of deals to be announced by the automotive industry occurs during President’s Day Weekend, which is when many deal-conscious consumers decide to purchase a new vehicle. So January is somewhat of a lull before things fire up again during President’s Day Weekend. If early sales predictions for 2010 meet their expected numbers, then the overall sales for the entire year should hover around 11.5 million.

If automotive sales hit 11.5 million for 2010 it would be a 10 percent increase from 2009, which allowed China to surpass the United States as the country with the most sales in the automotive industry. In fact, sales for automotives in the United States for 2009 were the worst in more than 25 years for the country.

Final January automotive sales statistics will be available just about midway through the month of February says Stamford used cars dealers, so stay tuned!