Econoday Report: Motor Vehicle Sales February 2, 2010

2010 Economic Calendar

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Motor Vehicle Sales

Released on 2/2/2010 For Jan, 2010

	Prior	Consensus	Consensus Range	Actual
Domestic Vehicle Sales	8.5 M	8.370 M	7.900 M to 8.500 M	7.9 M

Highlights
The motor vehicle component for January's retail sales report, which will make up about 20 percent of the report, looks to be a negative factor. Manufacturers reported selling about 511,000 U.S.-made cars and light trucks in January, which comes to an adjusted annual unit rate of 7.9 million, a sizable decline from December's rate of 8.5 million. Lost sales at Toyota, the result of the company's paralyzing gas-pedal recall, were not fully made up by sales at other manufacturers. The rate of decline at Toyota was the deepest of any maker, at an unadjusted month-to-month minus 45 percent for cars and minus 47 percent for trucks. Thursday's run of chain-store results will fill in expectations for next week's retail sales report.

Market Consensus Before Announcement
Sales of domestic-made light motor vehicles in December rose to a seasonally adjusted 8.4 million annual unit rate from an 8.2 million rate in November. Combined import and domestic-made sales advanced to an 11.2 million unit pace in December from 10.9 million the month before. With income growth sluggish and unemployment still high, analysts are not expecting improvement in sales for January.

Definition
Unit sales of domestically produced cars and light duty trucks (including sport utility vehicles and mini-vans). Individual manufacturers report usually report sales on the first business day of the month. Motor vehicle sales are good indicators of trends in consumer spending. Why Investors Care

Motor vehicles sales slowed notably in 2006 as a result of higher interest rates and a jump in gasoline prices but remained at reasonable levels due to strong income growth. Late in 2006 and in early 2007, gasoline prices were down from 2006 highs but moderating economic growth kept sales from rebounding. Truck shares hit their peak in 2005 when gasoline was cheap and remain sharply lower since gasoline prices spiked in 2006.

Data Source: Haver Analytics

2010 Release Schedule

Released On: 1/5 2/2 3/2 4/1 5/3 6/2 7/1 8/3 9/1 10/1 11/2 12/1

Released For: Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

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