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Things are looking good for U.S. car sales, Bill Vlasic, Detroit bureau chief for The New York Times, reports:
Automakers have enjoyed an unequaled run of success in the United States because of pent-up consumer demand, cheap gas prices and low interest rates. But despite record sales, manufacturers must continue updating their vehicles and improving technology to keep the good times rolling.
As the auto industry tallies its final numbers for 2015, it appears certain that annual sales in the United States will eclipse the previous record of 17.4 million set in 2000. Yet while the industry basks in its accomplishment of returning to sales levels not seen since before the most recent recession, the market looks far different today than it did 15 years ago.
Then, the three Detroit giants — General Motors, Ford Motor and the German-American carmaker DaimlerChrysler — accounted for nearly 66 percent of total sales, according to the research firm Autodata.
That dominance has slipped considerably. While overall sales cannot be calculated until December totals are released next week, the Detroit companies, through November, controlled just 45 percent of the market.
