What’s been driving strong auto sales? - Marketplace.org

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We’re in the middle of a historic election, and the economy keeps chugging along. We get an update on an important sector for both manufacturing and retail spending Tuesday: sales numbers for cars and trucks in October.

In spite of the pandemic, auto sales have been strong in recent months.

Back in April, with COVID-19 surging and the economy shutting down, production at auto plants dropped precipitously. Automakers retooled to be COVID-safe, and by May they’d started ramping up production again.

But Kristin Dziczek, vice president of industry, labor and economics at the Center for Automotive Research, said there still aren’t enough vehicles on dealer lots to meet demand.

“If you need a truck right now, you’re going to take the one that meets your criteria right now at the price they’re offering it, or you might be waiting a few months,” she said.

Still, with millions out of work and earning less, who’s buying?

Garrett Nelson, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, said it’s primarily higher-income Americans in cities and suburbs.

“While they might be working from home, they need that vehicle to do their errands,” he said. “Maybe they had really not seen an automobile as a necessity before, whereas, because of the pandemic, they do now.”

He said with people shunning buses, Ubers, trains and planes, a lot of consumers want their own set of wheels.

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New COVID-19 cases and deaths in the U.S. are on the rise. How are Americans reacting?

Johns Hopkins University reports the seven-day average of new cases hit 68,767 on Sunday — a record — eclipsing the previous record hit in late July during the second, summer wave of infection. A funny thing is happening with consumers though: Even as COVID-19 cases rise, Americans don’t appear to be shying away from stepping indoors to shop or eat or exercise. Morning Consult asked consumers how comfortable they feel going out to eat, to the shopping mall or on a vacation. And their willingness has been rising. Surveys find consumers’ attitudes vary by age and income, and by political affiliation, said Chris Jackson, who heads up polling at Ipsos.

How many people are flying? Has traveled picked up?

Flying is starting to recover to levels the airline industry hasn’t seen in months. The Transportation Security Administration announced on Oct. 19 that it’s screened more than 1 million passengers on a single day — its highest number since March 17. The TSA also screened more than 6 million passengers last week, its highest weekly volume since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. While travel is improving, the TSA announcement comes amid warnings that the U.S. is in the third wave of the coronavirus. There are now more than 8 million cases in the country, with more than 219,000 deaths.

How are Americans feeling about their finances?

Nearly half of all Americans would have trouble paying for an unexpected $250 bill and a third of Americans have less income than before the pandemic, according to the latest results of our Marketplace-Edison Poll. Also, 6 in 10 Americans think that race has at least some impact on an individual’s long-term financial situation, but Black respondents are much more likely to think that race has a big impact on a person’s long-term financial situation than white or Hispanic/Latinx respondents.

Find the rest of the poll results here, which cover how Americans have been faring financially about six months into the pandemic, race and equity within the workplace and some of the key issues Trump and Biden supporters are concerned about.

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What’s been driving strong auto sales? - Marketplace.org

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