The BEA released their estimate of light vehicle sales for August this morning. The BEA estimates sales of 13.06 million SAAR in August 2021 (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate), down 10.7% from the July sales rate, and down 14.4% from August 2020.
Click on graph for larger image.
This graph shows light vehicle sales since 2006 from the BEA (blue) and the BEA’s estimate for August (red).
The impact of COVID-19 was significant, and April 2020 was the worst month.
After April 2020, sales increased, and were close to sales in 2019 (the year before the pandemic).
The second graph shows light vehicle sales since the BEA started keeping data in 1967.
Note: dashed line is current estimated sales rate of 13.06 million SAAR.