U.S. new light vehicle sales to rise about 1% in July, report says

AutoNation

24/07/2024 18:39

July 24 (Reuters) - U.S. new light vehicle sales are
expected to rise about 1% from a year earlier, after a crucial
dealer software outage last month likely deferred sales to July,
automotive data provider S&P Global Mobility said on Wednesday.
    
        WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
    Car industry technology provider CDK was hit by a cyber
attack last month, forcing the retail technology provider to
shut down a critical software system used at more than 15,000
U.S. car dealerships in June, a major sales month in the
industry.
    The outage had forced some U.S. auto dealers to revert to
manual paperwork affecting the operations of major auto
companies such as AutoNation  AN.N , Hyundai and Volkswagen.  
 
        
    BY THE NUMBERS
    Light vehicle sales in the U.S. are expected to rise to
about 1.32 million units in July, from 1.29 million units, a
year ago.
     The share of Battery Electric Vehicles is expected to reach
7.8% in July, aided by the rollouts of new models from car
makers such as Honda  7267.T , Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE ,
Stellantis  STLAM.MI .
 
 KEY QUOTES
    "As a result of delayed transactions from the June auto
dealer cyber attacks, even with one less selling day than June
2024, auto sales volume in July is expected to essentially match
the month-prior result," said Chris Hopson, analyst at S&P
Global Mobility
    "Mixed signals regarding the outlook for the second half of
the year remain entrenched though, as new vehicle affectability
concerns remain prevalent, and inventories are not expected to
advance as strongly as they have done over the past 12 months,"
Hopson added.

 (Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim
Zahid)
 ((Abhinav.Parmar@thomsonreuters.com;))