U.S. car sales seen down 2 percent in June?

Analysts say that U.S. auto sales in June will likely fall 2 percent from a year earlier despite large discounts for consumers, presenting a fresh sign that automakers are heading into a downturn. June U.S. new vehicle sales will be about 1.48 million units, a drop of 2 percent from 1.51 million units a year earlier. The forecast was based on the first 15 selling days of the month. Automakers will release June U.S. sales results on July 3.

The seasonally adjusted annualized rate for the month will be 16.5 million vehicles, down nearly 2 percent from 16.8 million units in the same month in 2016. Retail sales to consumers, which do not include multiple fleet sales to rental agencies, businesses and government, were set to decline more than 1.3 percent in June. U.S. sales of new cars and trucks hit a record high of 17.55 million units in 2016. But the market has begun to saturate thanks partly to a glut of nearly-new used vehicles,forcing automakers to hike incentives to entice consumers to buy. Read more