Steve Roennau
Vice President
EFG Companies
There were a couple of surprising bright spots in April, as retail automotive dealers continued to deal with the impact of COVID-19. According to Autodata Corp, sales of the highly lucrative pickup segment dominated cars in the U.S., for the first time, by more than 17,000 — 186,417 pickups vs. 169,234 cars. In addition, with sales for April and early May coming in stronger than expected, automakers are already starting to rehire people and open up operations. While these are only two data points, they do provide a bit of good news in the dismal daily drumbeat.
The fact remains, however, that we are in uncharted waters. The good news is that not all steps forward are countered by a step back. Consider these data points:
Step Forward: Affordability – Interest rates are at an all-time low, making financing a vehicle pretty attractive.
Step Backward: Job Market – In April, the unemployment rate skyrocketed to 14.7% with 23.1 million people unemployed, but some industries are experiencing tremendous demand.