Sept. New Car Sales Upbeat

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Despite a jittery economy, new car sales this month are expected to be much stronger than in August.

New Car salesNew retail vehicle sales in September are on track to hit the highest level since April, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

Retail auto/light truck sales for the month are projected to reach 842,000 units, which represents a seasonally adjusted rate of 10.3 million vehicles sales for the year. This is up from 9.6 million units in August and 9.5 million units a year earlier.

“Coming off a solid Labor Day sale, retail sales exhibited unexpected strength in the second week of September, as the recovering inventory levels have helped to bring buyers back into the market,” said Jeff Schuster, executive director of global forecasting at J.D. Power and Associates. “However, incentive levels remain flat compared with August and the economy remains a concern, so the sales pace in the second half of the month is expected to give back some of the gains.”

Total auto/light truck sales (including fleet) are projected to exceed 1 million units or a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 12.9 million units.

J.D. Power forecasts retail vehicle sales at 10.2 million for the year, an increase of 11 percent over 2010. For total sales, including fleet sales, J.D. Power expects 12.6 million units, up 9 percent over 2010.

Source: J.D. Power & Associates

Photo via Bloomberg News

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