Automakers are reporting huge drops in May sales (HMC, TM, F, GM, FCAU, NSANY, VOW)

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On Wednesday, major automakers are announcing their US sales numbers for May.

So far, most of them have reported declines.

Economists estimate that total vehicle sales rose at an annualized pace of 17.30 million, according to Bloomberg, virtually flat compared to the prior month.

At first glance, the drops look discouraging following a record year for car sales in the US.

However, as Business Insider’s Matthew DeBord writes, sales are not that much lower than the record of 17.5 million new cars and trucks sold from dealer lots.

Also, some slowdown is to be expected, since sales have been partly driven by the historically high age of the total US vehicle fleet — 11 years. As this number falls, sales are likely to follow lower.

Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst pointed out in a note that sales in 2016 through May are up about 2% year on year. But the tough comparisons will be from August through November, when in 2015, sales averaged about 18 million.

Here’s the latest scoreboard:

• GM: -18% (-13% expected)
• Volkswagen: -17.2%
• Toyota: -9.6% (-8% expected)
• Ford:-6.1%(-4.9% expected)
• Honda:-4.8% (-4.3% expected)
• Mazda:-4.3%
• Mercedes Benz:-1%
• Nissan: -1% (-1% expected)
• Fiat Chrysler: +1.1% (-0.7% expected)
• Subaru of America: +1.1%
• Hyundai: +12%

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