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NADA ECONOMIST: NEW-CAR SALES TO SLIDE THIS YEAR
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NADA’s Paul Taylor |
February 10, 2008—NADA chief economist Paul Taylor today predicted that new-vehicle sales would be around 15.7 million units in 2008, down slightly from the 16.1 million units sold in 2007.
But a possible slide in oil demand and Congress’s economic stimulus package could help new-car dealers in the second half of the year, Taylor added. “I’m happy to say that although the difficulties continue in many of the states, we expect to see some improvement in about 28 of the states,” Taylor said in a press conference at the Moscone Center. Large states, such as California and Nevada, where the real estate market is suffering, will feel the effects of lower consumer confidence, Taylor said, resulting in a mixed picture of the industry as a whole.
Still, Taylor said he expects to see substantial growth in two categories of vehicles: crossover utility vehicles and small cars. “The manufacturers are not tired of them, and neither are the consumers,” Taylor said of crossovers. Much of the growth in sales of small cars can be attributed to young customers, he said, especially in the “small-small” cars category.
On the used-car side, Taylor said that sales for 2008 would total around 11.3 million units, about 100,000 units less than were sold in 2007.
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