Morningstar

Good September for Automakers

Automakers enjoyed their first year-over-year sales increase for 2017.

Securities In This Article
Ford Motor Co
(F)
General Motors Co
(GM)

U.S. automakers reported September auto sales that had their first year-over-year increase for 2017. The exact bump from hurricane recovery in Texas and Florida is hard to say, and we expect a good October as both states should only be in recovery mode barring another storm. September auto sales benefited from one extra selling day than September 2016 and increased by 6.3% year over year to about 1.51 million. The seasonally adjusted annualized selling rate came in at 18.58 million, the best of 2017. We calculate a 2% increase on a constant selling days basis. Robust crossover demand from GM, generous incentives, and a new generation Camry from Toyota, (Camry sales increased 13.1% despite further market share losses by midsize sedans), should keep consumers coming into showrooms in October and enable the industry to finish 2017 with sales in the low 17 million range.

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About the Author

David Whiston, CFA, CPA, CFE

Strategist
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David Whiston, CFA, CPA, CFE, is a strategist, AM Industrials, for Morningstar*. He covers stocks in the automotive industry, including dealerships, parts manufacturers, and automakers. He has covered the automotive industry since joining Morningstar in 2007. He writes stock reports, ad hoc reports, stock analyst notes, and builds discounted cash flow models for each company covered. He also assesses their economic moat and makes frequent television and print media appearances in local, national, and international news outlets. Key stocks covered include GM, Ford, CarMax, and all six publicly traded franchise auto dealers, such as AutoNation and Penske Automotive Group.

Before joining Morningstar in 2007, Whiston spent four years in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ New York real estate audit practice and one year in its Chicago office working on real estate acquisition due diligence, gaining experience around assessing an asset’s cash flow.

Whiston holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business. He also holds a master’s degree in business administration with concentrations in finance, economics, and organizational behavior from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation, and he is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Fraud Examiner.

In 2012, he ranked first in the specialty retailers and services industry in The Wall Street Journal’s annual “Best on the Street” analysts survey. He ranked first in the same industry in 2011 .

* Morningstar Research Services LLC (“Morningstar”) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc

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