Based on a preliminary estimate from WardsAuto, light vehicle sales were at a 16.53 million SAAR in March.



That is down slightly from March 2016, and down 5% from last month.





Click on graph for larger image.



This graph shows the historical light vehicle sales from the BEA (blue) and an estimate for February (red, light vehicle sales of 17.47 million SAAR from WardsAuto).



This was well below the consensus forecast of 17.4 million for March.



After two consecutive years of record sales, it looks like sales will be down or move sideways in 2017.



The second graph shows light vehicle sales since the BEA started keeping data in 1967.



Note: dashed line is current estimated sales rate.