Economists actually thought car sales would be flat in August. The Econoday consensus was 16.7 million units at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate. Instead, sales plunged to 16.1 million units.

Unit vehicle sales faded noticeably in August, to a 16.1 million annualized rate from 16.7 million in July. This is the lowest rate since February 2014. Sales of domestic-made vehicles fell to 12.7 million from 13.2 million with imports at 3.5 million from 3.6 million. Sales of both cars and light trucks showed declines. These results point to a sharp August reversal from what were unusually strong vehicle sales in the retail sales report for July.

Hurricane Boost Coming?

Bloomberg reports Nissan Leads Sales Plunge in Mixed Results for U.S. Carmakers