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Tuesday, June 02, 2015

Preliminary May Vehicle Sales at 17.7 million SAAR: Best sales rate since 2005, On pace for Best Year since 2001

by Calculated Risk on 6/02/2015 12:14:00 PM

From WardsAuto: May 2015 U.S. LV Sales Thread: May SAAR Should Top 17 Million

May WardsAuto report forecasted LV sales for May at 1.6 million units, equating to a SAAR of nearly 17.5 million units. Wtih 6 of the Top 7 automakers reporting sales are trending at 1.63 million units, equating to a SAAR slightly above 17.7 million units.
emphasis added
From the WSJ: Auto Makers Posted Stronger-Than-Expected U.S. Sales in May
Several top auto makers logged stronger-than-expected U.S. vehicle sales in May, adding to the industry’s momentum this year.
...
The results came despite one less selling day compared with last May, which was expected to result in slight year-over-year declines for most major manufacturers.

Still, the U.S. auto industry is on its way to delivering 17 million new vehicles this year—a level unseen since 2001.
I'll post a graph in a few hours (after all of the results have been reported), but sales were well above the consensus forecast of 17.0 million for May.