Incentives Drive Hot July Car Sales

Alexandria, VA -- August 4, 2014: The American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA) today released July 2014 sales figures for the international nameplate automobile industry. AIADA represents America’s approximately 10,000 international nameplate franchises whose brands accounted for 55.9 percent of all vehicles sold in the United States last month, up from 53.8 percent in June.

AutoData Corp. estimates the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) for July was 16.48 million units versus 15.76 million units a year ago. Industrywide, 1,435,342 light vehicles were sold, making this the best July since 2006. Sales for all brands, unadjusted for business days, were up 9.1 percent from July 2013 and five percent year over year.

High end-of-model-year incentives helped drive sales to healthy heights in July. Across the board, incentives were up eight percent from July 2013, averaging $2,774 per vehicle. Mazda’s sales were up 17 percent, Nissan’s were up 11.5 percent, and Toyota saw an 11.6 percent improvement. Hyundai enjoyed its best July on record with 67,011 vehicles sold, up 1.5 percent from July 2013.

“Demand for new vehicles isn’t slowing down,” said AIADA President Cody Lusk. “Consumer confidence is being buoyed by positive news on employment and housing. Dealers fully expect sales numbers to continue to climb in the second half of the year.”

In July, international brands sold 802,355 units, up from 764,029 units in June. Asian nameplates occupied 46. 9 percent of the U.S. market, up from 44.5 in June. European nameplates fell from 9.3 percent in June to 9 percent in July. Domestic brands held 44.1 percent market share, down from 46.2 in June. Read more here: July Sales