USA October 2023: Market slows its growth to just +1.8%

The Lexus TX has landed in the U.S. charts.

The U.S. new light vehicle market grows just 1.8% year-on-year in to an estimated 1.2 million units in October. This is a significant slowing down vs. the previous months of the year (Q3 up 16.7%), due in part by higher interest rates and the effects of the UAW strike, which is estimated to have cost 35,000 deliveries for the month. Near-term prospect remain rosy. The SAAR comes at 15.5 million units vs. 15.28 million in October 2022, and the average daily selling rate is 48,011 vs. 45,444 a year ago. The year-to-date tally is now up 14.4% to 12.9 million. Passenger car sales drop -2.2% year-on-year whereas light trucks climb 2.6% and account for 80% of the market vs. 78% a year ago. 

As a reminder a lot of brands now only report quarterly and are excluded from this update. Among the groups still reporting monthly, American Honda (+32.6%), Toyota Motor (+4.5%) beat the market Hyundai-Kia (+2%) matches it whereas Ford Motor (-5.2%) falls. Brand-wise, Toyota (+1.8%) is in line with the overall growth, Ford (-5.2%) underperforms, Honda (+33.9%) posts a brilliant gain, mainly compensating for a weak year-ago result (-16.8% on the prior year). Likewise Honda sales are up 31.8% year-to-date but were down -36.3% over 10 months 2022 vs. 2021. Genesis (+31.5%), Lexus (+24.7%), Acura (+22.1%), Volvo (+19.2%) and Subaru (+10.7%) all shine.

Among models reported monthly, the Ford F-Series (-5.1%) disappoints, whereas the Toyota RAV4 (+20.3%) and Honda CR-V (+53%) shoot up. The RAV4 is only 11,000 sales below the F-Series for the month vs. over 21,000 a year ago in October 2022. The Toyota Camry (-17.2%) is in difficulty but remains above the Toyota Corolla (+33.7%) and Honda Civic (+51.8%), both euphoric. Below, the Ford Edge (+114.6%), Honda HR-V (+55.5%), Hyundai Kona (+37.1%) and Honda Accord (+30.6%) post notable gains. The new Toyota Grand Highlander confirms its success with almost 7,600 sales and we welcome its twin the Lexus TX in the charts.

Previous post: USA Q3 2023: Honda, Nissan, Tesla impress, market up 16.7%

One year ago: USA October 2022: Toyota, Subaru, Mazda shine, sales up 11.5%

Full October 2023 data for selected groups, brands and models below.