August Sales a Pleasant Surprise, Edmunds.com Reports

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Edmunds.com forecasts that 1.29 million new cars will be sold in August for an estimated SAAR of 14.5 million light vehicles. If the numbers hold, August will be the second best month of 2012 in terms of SAAR, and the third best month in terms of unit sales.

“Sales showed signs of flattening out in the first couple months of summer, so August’s sales figures will come as a nice surprise for everyone in the auto industry,” says Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com senior analyst. “Automakers and dealers have been very creative in packaging hidden incentives in recent weeks, and, when you combine that with the sell-down of popular 2012 model year vehicles, there have been some nice deals available to car buyers.”

Earlier this month, Edmunds.com’s Vice Chairman Jeremy Anwyl shed more light on these “hidden incentives” — which include stair-step programs and one-day demo sales — in a commentary posted to Edmunds.com’s Industry Center.

SALES VOLUME FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER

*NOTE: August 2012 had 27 selling days; August 2011 had 26

Edmunds.com’s sales forecast for August would represent an 11.7 percent increase from July 2012, and a 20.1 percent increase (unadjusted for number of selling days) from August 2011. Retail SAAR will come in at 12 million vehicles in August, with fleet transactions accounting for 17 percent of total sales. An estimated 3.1 million used cars will also be sold in August, for a SAAR of 36.9 million, up from July’s SAAR of 36.3 million.

Edmunds.com projects that the top automakers will see little shift in market share in August. General Motors is expected to realize the growth (+0.6 percentage points) from July to August, while Nissan should slide the most (-0.5 percentage points), the vehicle information site reported.

Market Share Forecast, By Manufacturer