Cox Automotive expects U.S. sales growth to slow during the second half of the year to end 2024 at 15.7 million units, roughly a 1.3% increase compared to 2023.
That's largely good for consumers, some of whom have been waiting years to purchase a new vehicle, but a headwind for automakers. The auto data and research firm expects sales growth to slow during the second half of the year to end 2024 at 15.7 million units, roughly a 1.3% increase compared to 2023. And,"Overall, we're expecting some weakness in the coming few months," said Cox chief economist Jonathan Smoke during a mid-year review briefing Tuesday."We basically are making some assumptions that we can't quite hold the pace that we've been seeing. But we're not expecting a collapse either.
"There's a lot of uncertainty that lies ahead, and it may make recent sales successes hard to build upon," Charlie Chesbrough, Cox's senior economist, said during the briefing."We are concerned that the second half of the year cannot maintain the growth we've seen so far."