According to the average estimate of 11 analysts that Bloomberg compiled, deliveries for light vehicles in May could have run at a 12.1 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. The vehicle sales in the United States were likely at their slowest pace of the year in May, a gap in demand before rebounding production in Japan and lower gas prices boosts the highest annual purchases since 2008. According to researcher Autodata Corp., the pace exceeded 13 million each for the last three months and was 12.6 million in January.
Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. are working hard for operations to get back to normal after the March 11 disaster in Japan created component supply shortages and idled factories, according to Autonews. The slowdown in May sales was due to the limited supply of fuel-efficient vehicles, like Toyota's Prius, that discouraged purchases and raised prices.
Alan Baum, the principal of industry consultant Baum & Associates shared that the consumers were informed about a temporary shortage of cars, and thus, many of them are just waiting. He forecasted that vehicle sales in the U.S. this year will reach 13 million. He added that May is a “reasonably poor month” but did not guarantee that it will transcend in the remaining months of the year.
