Total Vehicle Sales in United States

Measures the number of cars and light trucks (up to 14,000 lb) sold in the United States in a month, expressed as a seasonally adjusted annualised rate (SAAR, in millions of units). Published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), it is one of the timeliest gauges of US households' spending on durable goods.

The BEA compiles the figure from Ward's Automotive reports and USITC import data. The light-vehicle series adds cars and light trucks, both domestic and imported, and is annualised and seasonally adjusted: the month's pace is projected over a full year as if it held steady.

A rise points to strong consumption and confident households, since buying a vehicle is a big, credit-sensitive spending decision; a fall often foreshadows weaker private consumption and GDP. It is highly sensitive to interest rates and disposable income, and is watched as a leading gauge of durable-goods spending.

It is very volatile month to month owing to sales incentives, inventory availability (chips, supply chains) and seasonality, and manufacturer data are revised over time. It excludes heavy commercial and industrial trucks, which are reported separately.