US Auto Sales To Hit Record High For April

Auto retail sales for April are slated to go higher than they’ve ever been for that month in the U.S., according to a report from Yahoo Finance.

The number of sales for the month is likely to hit 1.3 million units — an increase of 110.6 percent from last year.

The boost was helped along by robust consumer demand and tighter inventories in dealerships, according to reports from industry consultants J.D. Power and LMC Automotive on Wednesday (April 28).

“With the sales pace exceeding the rate at which vehicles are being produced, compounded by significant production disruption due to microchip shortages, there is a growing risk to the industry’s ability to sustain the current sales pace in the coming months,” said Thomas King, president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power, according to Yahoo Finance.

Average transaction prices are expected to rise 6.8 percent to $37,572, which would be the highest number for April ever recorded.

The average incentive spending per unit is expected to fall to $3,191, which is down from $4,953 from last year. And the total seasonally adjusted rate for the month would be sitting at 18.1 million vehicles — an increase from the 2019 number of 16.4 million units.

King said low inventories have let manufacturers and retailers cut down on discounts.

Customers, he said, were looking at buying vehicles closer to the suggested retail price and more expensive vehicles.

Consumer demand for used cars has been seeing a resurgence, with the recent numbers chronicled by Vroom showing that the fourth quarter had seen demand to rival pre-COVID numbers.

The revenues came out to $405.8 million, Vroom wrote, with that number being an improvement on the Street estimates of $401 million.

The number of eCommerce units sold came out to 11,022, which was a boost of 74 percent year-over-year. As a result, eCommerce-related revenues were up 43 percent.

However, the average selling price decreased from $30,808 to $24,909.