Earlier this month Ford temporarily shut down multiple manufacturing facilities, temporarily laying off thousands of workers. Most notably the stopped production of America’s best-selling pickup truck, the F-150. Well, the numbers are now in, and Ford wasn’t the only one who got hit with a decline in sales.
Despite the dip in auto sales, no alarms have been raised. Many companies had already expected a dip in sales and planned accordingly. But, this may be the beginning of a slow decline going into 2017. This is because 2015 was a record year for auto sales, and the demand has become exhausted, resulting in a slow decline.
Ford felt a 12% dip in US auto sales in October. Meanwhile, Honda experienced declines as large as 23% in New Delhi. Nobody is really talking about it, but I think this may be the start of a major decline in auto sales. With companies like Uber and Lyft pushing their self-driving programs harder than ever before, the need for a personal vehicle is declining. Plus more EV startups, and Tesla’s rideshare program, I think we will see a continuing slow decline is auto sales over the next few years.