U.S. auto sales lose momentum in November as pandemic rebounds

Early reports from U.S. auto manufacturers support predictions of drastically reduced retail sales in November, as the coronavirus pandemic’s resurgence prompted American buyers to self-isolate. 

The best news originates from Volvo, which managed a 20 percent bump in November when compared with 2021. Toyota managed to slide just 1%, with its mainstream brand arriving flat and Lexus dropping a little less than 7%. After that, things get ugly. Subaru, Hyundai and Mazda were off more than 10% over a last year; Kia slipped 5%.

Ford, which resumed reporting monthly figures starting in October after only reporting quarterly for pretty much two years, backed up analysts’ expectations with Wednesday’s report of the nearly 17% stop by retail sales and a 21% overall decline compared to November of this past year, despite strong performances of its Super Duty pickups, the Explorer, Transit and Lincoln Aviator. 

Per Ford’s own predictions, the U.S. market shrank by 15% in November, by having an industry-wide drop of 12% in retail and 25% in fleet, the second of which continues to suffer because of non-existent rental demand. Government and commercial fleet sales have rebounded, Ford says, while rentals remain down nearly 90% compared to 2021. 

Honda reported a slide in excess of 23%, with every model showing a decline when compared with last November only one: the RLX, which ticked up from 80 to 81 units — a rise of 1.3%. 

Auto sales in the United States had managed to bounce back since hitting a pandemic-fueled bottom in April, leading major automakers to increase production and boost weak inventories at dealerships. However, rising COVID-19 cases in the U.S. states have raised the uncertainty on the speedy rebound.

The seasonally adjusted annualized sales figure for light vehicles dropped to fifteen.55 million units in November, from 16.21 million units in October and 17.09 million units within the year-ago period, based on Wards Intelligence. Still, that's nearly double the 8.58 million units marked in April, once the sales pace hit its lowest since December 1970 due to pandemic-led lockdown restrictions.

U.S. manufacturing activity slowed here in November, with new orders retreating using their highest level in nearly 17 years, as numerous workers stayed both at home and factories were temporarily turn off, based on the Institute for Supply Management.

(This short article contains reporting by Reuters.)