Analysts at Edmunds.com forecast that a combination between pent-up demand, a large number of expiring leases and an ever-increasing average age of new cars (up to 11.4 years) will boost sales to 16.4 million new vehicles. That would make 2014 the strongest new car sales year since 16.5 million vehicles were sold back in 2006.
Since 2000, when 17.4 million new cars were sold, sales have been on a downward spiral. They hit rock bottom in 2009, when the recession hit the new car industry the hardest. This year, auto sales are expected to hit about 15.5 million.
Despite the anticipated increase in new car sales, Edmunds’ analysts aren’t exactly thrilled with the potential growth. They’re expecting 2014′s sales growth, at about 6 percent on a year-over-year basis, to be the industry’s slowest since 2009.
“The economy has not yet improved enough for recovery to widely reach the groups hardest hit by the recession, including young people, lower income households and small businesses,” said Edmunds analyst Dr. Lacey Plache in a statement. “Even though auto sales from these groups have improved from recession lows, their participation in the recovery still lags the rest of the market.”
Moreover, Edmunds sees the average age of cars traded in on new models to continue to increase, suggesting that owners are not only content with owning older cars, they’re keeping them longer than ever.<![CDATA[
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