U.S. Auto Sales to Post First Drop in Seven Months on Gas Costs

[Purveyor]

By Craig Trudell

March 31 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. automobile sales probably fell for the first time in seven months in March as the crisis in Japan and the highest gas prices in more than two years hurt consumers’ confidence.

March light-vehicle deliveries, to be released tomorrow, may have run at a 12.9 million annual rate, the average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. While higher than a year ago, it’s less than the seasonally adjusted rate of 13.4 million in February, according to Autodata Corp.

The conflict in Libya helped push gas prices to the highest since September 2008, slowing truck and sport-utility vehicle sales. Confidence among U.S. consumers fell more than forecast to a three-month low this month, the Conference Board said March 29. The group said 3.6 percent of Americans plan to buy a new auto in the next six months, down from 3.9 percent in February.

“A lot of uncertainty in the geopolitical environment, with the crisis in Japan and Middle East unrest, affects consumers’ tendency to make big-ticket item purchases,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends at TrueCar.com in Santa Monica, California. “There’s hesitancy by consumers to pull the trigger on car purchases.”

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http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aktNHS2XyeUY&pos=12

[xchrom]

1. interesting. nt

[earthside]

2. Shows how fragile ...

... the 'recovered' U.S. auto industry really is.

Even with them handing out car loans like free candy, when the price of gas goes up, the 'demand' starts to fade away.

http://robertreich.org/post/4218613020">The Truth About the Economy that Nobody In Washington Or On Wall Street Will Admit: We’re Heading Back Toward a Double Dip - Robert Reich

[Initech]

3. I'm buying a 40+ mpg vehicle because of how expensive gas is.

Right now I'm averaging 25 - 28 mpg with my Nissan. I'm looking extensively at the Ford Fusion hybrid.

[taught_me_patience]

4. A lot of "probably" and "mays" in this article

Let's see the real data before jumping to conclusions.