In light of the economic and fiscal fiascos of recent weeks — the U.S. credit downgrade and the stock market swooning, along with the debt-ceiling crisis — it may seem like blood is in the water and the sharks of economic turmoil are circling.

But the impact on auto sales might not be as bad as one might expect.

According to Kelley Blue Book analyst Alec Gutierrez, it’s too early to tell how much consumer confidence will drop from the near-2,000-point stock-market decline, and it doesn’t seem there will be any prolonged or overwhelming impacts to auto buying.

In fact, Gutierrez emphasized that many shoppers are delaying car purchases anyway, so on a short-term basis, it may simply lead to these delayers simply pushing back their purchases even further. And in the fourth quarter, KBB projects a lift in sales and production.

“At Kelley Blue Book, we think the recent drop in the stock market (close to 2,000 points since July 21) will definitely influence consumer confidence, which is highly correlated to overall vehicle sales. However, exactly to what degree consumer confidence will drop remains uncertain,” he explained.

“The plunge in the market is an emotional reaction to the S&P credit downgrade for the United States from AAA to AA+. Although the recent market drop has been a rather severe correction, the Dow still remains higher than when it steeply dropped in 2008, so we do not think it will have a long-term or significant impact to consumer confidence as it relates to auto purchasing,” Gutierrez continued.

Explaining the purchase delays in more detail, he went on to note that because of the inventory and incentive dearth in the auto industry, consumers are holding off on buying.

These shoppers may just stick it out a bit longer.

“In the short-term, this new decline in consumer confidence may cause even more shoppers to delay their purchases for the next several weeks/months, as they wait for the market to stabilize. Kelley Blue Book expects that auto sales and production will increase when Japanese automaker production increases in 4Q,” Gutierrez shared.

“In terms of how the recent market plunge may affect auto loans, many automakers and their captive finance companies are able to subsidize the general marketplace interest rates and still offer competitive low rates on vehicle purchases, so that could help offset any potential impact,” he continued.

Likewise, over at TrueCar.com, analyst Jesse Toprak offered what may be some reassurance. He emphasized that conditions are ideal for consumers to make vehicle purchases.

In particular, Toprak stressed is that credit is available for the majority of shoppers and noted that incentives are bound to climb, which likely comes as welcome news to dealers.

“We’re going through some fluctuations in the financial marketplace currently, but credit is obtainable for most consumers and inventory is there, making now just as good a time as any to purchase a new vehicle,” said Toprak, TrueCar’s vice president of industry trends and insights.

“Incentives are also expected to increase slightly heading into the second half of the year, helping lower the prices for car buyers," he added.