
NADA Market Beat
Produced by NADA's Industry Analysis division, NADA Market Beat is a monthly report on U.S. new light vehicle sales; it replaces the NADA Monthly Sales Recap.
NADA Market Beat: New Light-Vehicle SAAR Continues Hot Streak
New light-vehicle sales in October 2023 totaled a SAAR of 15.5 million units, up 5.6% from October 2022’s 14.7 million.

New light-vehicle sales in October 2023 totaled a SAAR of 15.5 million units, up 5.6% from October 2022’s 14.7 million. Sales cooled at the end of October, finishing below expectations, but still marked the 14th straight month of year-over-year SAAR increases. According to Wards Intelligence, preliminary estimates of sales losses resulting from the UAW strikes totaled 35,000 units. Still, lost sales from strike- affected OEMs do not appear to have been made up by other OEMs, Wards Intelligence adds.
New light-vehicle sales continue to head toward a mix of 80% light trucks versus 20% cars, with light-truck sales accounting for 79.6% of total sales year to date through October 2023. The crossover segment continues to be the most popular, accounting for 47.2% of new vehicles sold so far this year. Sales of alternative-fuel vehicles—hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles (BEVs)—represented 16.4% of all new vehicles sold year to date. BEVs sales alone accounted for 7.2% of alternative-fuel vehicle sales. Total annual BEV sales should top 1 million units for the first time, as 916,047 BEVs have been sold so far in 2023.
Although the strike’s impact on production was significant, totaling roughly 200,000 units, total industry inventory was not significantly affected. New light-vehicle inventory on the ground and in transit at the beginning of October totaled 2.06 million units and October’s month-end inventory totaled 2.15 million units, an increase of 4.4%. We believe that inventory levels will continue to build throughout the remaining two months of the year. Yet financial impacts of production stoppages at the strike-affected OEMs will be significant.
Now that all three strike-affected OEMs have tentative agreements in place, vehicle production should resume over coming days as union members learn about the new agreements and vote to ratify them. Even so, there is remains a risk that union members at one or more of those OEMs will vote down the proposed agreements and resume striking.
For full-year 2023, we expect new light-vehicle sales to total 15.4 million units.
2023
October NADA Market Beat: New Light-Vehicle SAAR Continues Hot Streak September NADA Market Beat: 13th Straight Month of Year-over-Year New Light-Vehicle Sales Increases August NADA Market Beat: New Light-Vehicle Sales YTD Up 13.7% YOY July NADA Market Beat: New Light-Vehicle Sales Increase Year-Over-Year for 11 Straight Months June NADA Market Beat: First Half of 2023 Hits High Note with June 2023 15.7 Million Unit SAAR May NADA Market Beat: May 2023 is 10th Consecutive Month of YOY Sales Increases April NADA Market Beat: April 2023 New Light-Vehicle SAAR Increases 11.4% Compared to April 2022 February NADA Market Beat: New Light-Vehicle SAAR Up Year-Over-Year for Seventh Straight Month January NADA Market Beat: January 2023 SAAR Hits 15.7 Million Units2022 Archives
December NADA Market Beat: 2022 New Light-Vehicle Sales top 13.7 Million Units November NADA Market Beat: November 2022 New Light-Vehicle Sales Up YOY; Down Slightly from Month Prior October October New Light-Vehicle Sales Up Nearly 10% from September September NADA Market Beat: September 2022 New Light-Vehicle Sales Up 9.6% August NADA Market Beat: August 2022 New Light-Vehicle SAAR Up 0.7% Year-Over-Year July NADA Market Beat: New-Light Vehicle Sales Increased Slightly Month-Over-Month June NADA Market Beat: June New Light-Vehicle Sales Up Slightly from May 2022 But Down Year-Over-Year May New Light-Vehicle Sales Down 12.6% Month-Over-Month April NADA Market Beat: April New Light-Vehicle Sales Up Slightly from March March NADA Market Beat: Supply Chain Disruptions Suppress New Light-Vehicle Sales February NADA Market Beat: February New Light-Vehicle Sales Weakened Compared to January January NADA Market Beat: January 2022 New Light-Vehicle SAAR Reaches 7 Month High2021 Archives
December NADA Market Beat: 2021 New Light-Vehicle Sales Up 3.1% over 2020 November NADA Market Beat: Limited Vehicle Availability Continues to Impact Sales Despite Slight Inventory Increases in November October NADA Market Beat: First Monthly New Light-Vehicle Sales Gain Since April September NADA Market Beat: Limited Inventory Drives SAAR of 12.2 Million Units for September Sales August NADA Market Beat: New Vehicle Sales Decline Amid Inventory Constraints July NADA Market Beat: Inventory Continues to Impact New-Vehicle Sales June NADA Market Beat: Inventory Constraints Limit New-Car Sales April NADA Market Beat: New Light Vehicle-Sales Top 18 Million Unit SAAR for Second Straight Month March NADA Market Beat: March New Light-Vehicle Auto Sales Incredibly Strong February NADA Market Beat: New Light-Vehicle Sales Fall Slightly in February January NADA Market Beat: Light-Vehicle Sales Start Strong in January 20212020 Archives
December NADA Market Beat: 2020 Light-Vehicle Sales Reach 14.46 Million Units November NADA Market Beat: New-Vehicle Sales Down Slightly Compared to Previous Two Months October NADA Market Beat: New-Vehicle Sales Top 16 Million Unit SAAR for Second Straight Month September NADA Market Beat: New Light-Vehicle Sales Up for Fifth Consecutive Month August NADA Market Beat: New Light-Vehicle Sales Continue to Recover July NADA Market Beat: July Vehicle Sales Improve for Third Consecutive Month June NADA Market Beat: June Vehicle Sales Increased to 13 Million SAAR May NADA Market Beat: May Sales Show Signs of Recovery April NADA Market Beat: April 2020 SAAR Falls to 8.6 Million Units March NADA Market Beat: Light Vehicle Sales Down 34.1% in March Due to COVID-19 February NADA Market Beat: U.S. New Vehicle Sales Up 1.9% Year-Over-Year January NADA Market Beat: Light Trucks Represent 75% of All Light Vehicles Sold2019 Archives
December NADA Market Beat: 2019 U.S. New Vehicle Sales Mark 5th Year Over 17 Million Units November NADA Market Beat: U.S. New Vehicle Sales Down 1.5% Year-to-Date October NADA Market Beat: U.S. New Vehicle Sales Down 1.5% Year-to-Date September NADA Market Beat: U.S. New Vehicle Sales Down 1% Year-to-Date August NADA Market Beat: U.S. New Vehicle Sales Down 1.1% Year-to-Date July NADA Market Beat: U.S. New Vehicle Sales Down 1.4% Year-to-Date June NADA Market Beat: U.S. New Vehicle Sales Down 1.2% Year-to-Date May NADA Market Beat: Despite a Solid May Sales Performance, U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales Down 1.8% Year-to-Date April NADA Market Beat: U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales Down 4.5% March NADA Market Beat: U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales Down 0.9% February NADA Market Beat: U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales Down 2.5% January NADA Market Beat: U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales Down 3%Related
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