Full-year new-vehicle sales in the United States were forecast to increase 12% in 2023, reaching 15.5 million units, according to Cox Automotive, with the highest increases occurring in the compact and the compact sport utility vehicle and crossover segments.
Automotive services and technology provider Cox said that sales of compact cars jumped 20% to 990,000 in 2023, compared to 824,000. In the compact SUV and cross over category, sales rose 15% to 2.4 million last year, compared to 2.1 million.
Sales of full-size pickups increased 8% to 2.2 million.
The mid-sized car sales segment saw a 7% uptick to 907,000.
In the mid-size SUV and crossover segment, sales edged up 4% to 2.6 million.
The full year forecast is based on sales data for January-November plus a forecast estimate for December.
“December is generally a strong month for new-vehicle sales as holiday shoppers look for year-end deals, and this year will be no exception,” Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at Atlanta, Georgia-based Cox Automotive, said in a press release. “With supply much higher now and incentives higher as well, this December is expected to finish significantly better than last year. But high vehicle prices and high interest rates remain the industry’s Grinch right now, and that trend will continue into next year.”
Cox noted that new-vehicle inventory volume was 2.6 million at the start of December, higher by more than 900,000 units from one year earlier.