New-car sales expected to be up slightly in June, even as interest rates and prices remain high

By Claudia Assis

June new-car sales are forecast to reach a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16 million vehicles, ahead of May's 15.9 million

June new-car sales are expected to come in slightly higher than May sales, wrapping up a first half of the year that is also forecast to be a bit better than a year ago, even as high interest rates and car prices continue to keep some buyers sidelined.

That's from Cox Automotive, which on Tuesday said it expects June new-car sales to reach a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 16 million vehicles, only a beat lower than June 2023's 16.1 million and ahead of May 2024's 15.9 million.

High car prices and interest rates "continue to hinder a stronger market," Cox said.

The first half of the year is likely to be slightly ahead of last year's, with Cox forecasting a sales pace of around 15.6 million vehicles for the period, up from 15.4 million vehicles in the first half of 2023.

Related: Tesla quarterly sales are tracking lower

"Sales have been relatively strong over the last few months thanks in large part to lower prices. Incentives are rising, which are helping vehicle buyers, but only somewhat," Cox senior economist Charlie Chesbrough said in a statement.

"The expectation of falling prices coupled with rising uncertainty around interest rate policies may lead some vehicle buyers to wait," he said.

Cox Automotive said it expects a sales pace of about 15.7 million for the year, which would be a 1.3% gain over 2023's 15.5 million.

Uncertainty clouds the second half of the year, with more discounting and better prices supporting sales amid "an uncertain economic outlook," Cox said.

U.S. car dealerships have been affected by a cyberattack at a software provider that offered one-stop-shop services for their business. The provider, CDK Global, has said that its products may be offline for additional days after last week's hack.

Several car-dealership groups said that it was too early to tell whether the hack will materially impact their finances, and that they were working under contingency plans or using workarounds while they wait for the services to be restored.

See also: More car dealerships say CDK cyberattack has hurt their operations

-Claudia Assis

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-25-24 1531ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.