Auto Sales Miss Again

While the mainstream financial media does its best to convince investors that the weak Q1 GDP was once again due to “seasonal” factors, the Cash-Strapped Consumer showed up again this morning as auto sales for April came in weaker than expected again, after a rough March.

With about 84 percent of the industry reporting at this point, the overall sales pace is tracking at 16.67mm SAAR versus expectations for 17.10mm. Here is the breakout by company:

Ford (F) down 7.2 percent yoy

Toyota (TM) down 4.4 percent yoy

General Motors (GM) down 5.8 percent yoy

Fiat-Chrysler (FCAU) down 6.6 percent yoy

Nissan (NSANY) down 1.5 percent yoy

Mercedes (DDAIY) down 7.9 percent yoy

Mazda (MZDAF) down 7.8 percent yoy

Honda (HMC) down 7.0 percent yoy

Volvo (VOLVF) up 15.4 percent yoy

Volkswagen (VLKAY) up 1.6 percent yoy

With only two companies reporting better sales on a year-over-year basis, April was another rough month. We did see one slightly bright spot out of Ford (F) where overall sales of trucks were up 7.4 percent year-to-date over last year. These could be a barometer for the health of small businesses, which we’ve seen have been more optimistic of late on hopes for tax reform in their favor.

So far consumer income and overall spending have been disappointments, and now auto sales came in weaker than expected. That argument for “seasonal” weakness in Q1 isn’t looking too strong.