In the Seventh Federal Reserve District (Chicago), the growth in vehicle sales has not been as high recently as it had been previously, but dealers in the region may be happy to know that used-vehicle demand in the region showed “continued strength,” as did the consumer appetite for fuel-efficient vehicles.

Likewise, the Cleveland District saw a pick-up in used sales over the last six weeks.

These were just a couple nuggets of positive news from Wednesday’s Beige Book report released by the Federal Reserve.

Overall, the Fed said of the most recent reporting period: “Auto sales continued to be strong, particularly in the New York District, where they were said to be increasingly robust. In contrast, Chicago, Kansas City and Dallas indicated slower growth in auto sales in September.”

Providing more details about reported auto activity in the aforementioned New York region, the report added: “Buffalo area auto dealers report that new vehicle sales were steady and strong in August, running 13 percent ahead of a year ago, while Rochester-area dealers report that sales accelerated and were up more than 20 percent.

“While final numbers are not yet tallied, sales are reported to have remained robust in September. Sales of used automobiles have generally been soft,” the Fed noted. “Wholesale and retail credit conditions for auto purchases continue to be characterized as favorable.”

Staying on the East Coast, the past few months looked bright for the Second District (Philadelphia), as does the future. Dealers are optimistic about where sales are headed and reported an especially strong August.

“Auto dealers reported that August was a ‘killer’ month; however, year-over-year comparisons were boosted by stealing an extra Saturday from September compared with last year,” the Fed explained in the report.

“September sales were reported as still very strong, although the lost weekend may account for a little dip from August’s pace. In addition, sales slowed for some dealers as they grew low on inventory.”

In the first eight months of the year, gains in the new-vehicle business in the Cleveland region were said to have been “moderate.” Meanwhile, for the month of August itself, sales were found to have climbed “slightly” month-over-month.

And while consumer demand still leans toward the smaller, fuel-efficient side, the pockets with “considerable shale-gas activity” are reporting some strong demand for trucks, according to the Fed.

“New-vehicle inventories are lower than desired, which dealers attributed to the model-year changeover,” the Fed said of the Cleveland region.

“Our contacts are optimistic about sales for the remainder of the year. They project that sales volume for 2013 will be about 10 percent higher than in 2012 due to pent-up demand, the availability of financing, and the option to lease.”

Next up, the Richmond District showed improvement in auto sales, but there were reports of static sales.

Elsewhere, sales also increased in the Atlanta District, while dipping in the Kansas City District.

That said, the Fed did point out that despite a slowdown in sales last month, the K.C. region was still ahead of 2012 numbers and those September numbers actually came in as projected. What’s more, dealers are anticipating a steady market in the near future.

Stability was the name of the game in the Dallas District, where the Fed indicated sales remained “fairly steady overall.”

“Demand was up year-over-year, but not as much as expected, possibly due to a lack of confidence among buyers. Inventories were in line with respondents’ expectations,” the report indicated. “Contacts have positive outlooks for the fourth quarter and into 2014.”
 

Joe Overby can be reached at joverby@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.