J.D. Power and Associates: Monthly sales to improve 15%

In what has been a dismal year for auto sales, December 2009 shows some promise as it is expected to realize the industry’s largest year-over-year sales increase this year. With gradual improvements leading into December, this month has seen a 15% spike in new-vehicle sales, reports J.D. Power and Associates.

An advancement over the 895,152 new cars sold last December, the projected 1.03 million units of this month make December only the third month in 2009 to see an improvement of the previous year. August also saw a boost but it was perhaps a bit artificial in nature considering it was in large part due to the cash-for-clunkers incentives, and November receives a bit of a bias as it stands in comparison to November 2008; when the market went crashing through the floor.

J.D. Power & Associates based its forecast on activity from the first 17 days of the month.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)