2001 on Track as Second Best New-Vehicle Sales Year

    AGOURA HILLS, Calif.--Dec. 19, 2001--New light-vehicle sales for December are keeping the U.S. auto industry on course for its second highest sales year on record, according to J.D. Power and Associates.
    Sales of new light-vehicles through November reflected a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 18 million units. With the pace of December sales at about a 14 million annualized rate, the 2001 total sales figure is expected to reach 16.95 million units.
    New-vehicle sales established an all-time record in 2000 with 17.4 million units sold, topping the previous high of 16.90 million units set in 1999.
    "December sales are down a little compared with the previous few months, but it's still a solid finish to a very strong year," said Dr. Bob Schnorbus, chief economist at J.D. Power and Associates. "Of course incentives such as zero-percent financing have had a huge positive impact on new-vehicle sales in the last quarter. In the next few months, as automakers scale back on incentives, we'll see a slight correction, but I expect 2002 to be another strong year."
    J.D. Power and Associates sales forecasts are derived from a joint effort between its Global Forecasting Department and Power Information Network, a division of J.D. Power and Associates that gathers new-vehicle retail transaction data from more than 5,000 participating auto franchises in 23 U.S. markets.
    With headquarters in Agoura Hills, J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction.
    J.D. Power and Associates press releases and media information can be accessed through the Internet at www.jdpa.com. Media e-mail contact: john.tews@jdpa.com or michael.greywitt@jdpa.com.

    This press release is provided for editorial use only. No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release or J.D. Power and Associates survey results without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates.