Global auto sales to rise 4%

Global auto sales are set to advance an additional 4% in 2015, finds a new Scotiabank report.

China will continue to be the industry’s growth leader, it adds, but North America is set to achieve all-time highs over the next twelve months.

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“Purchases will be buoyed by strengthening labour markets, ongoing low short and long-term interest rates and monetary expansion, as the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank take over from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England as the main liquidity providers,” says Carlos Gomes, senior economist and auto specialist at Scotiabank.

“Financial market conditions remain supportive of further gains in sales, and [markets] will likely improve once the volatility associated with the recent plunge in global oil prices begins to subside.”

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Other report highlights include:

• auto demand in China is expected to grow 7% in 2015, up to nearly 19.5 million units. Despite growing concerns about an economic slowdown in that region, demand for new automobiles continues to be driven by rising vehicle ownership in major cities, especially for crossover utility vehicles; and
• over the coming year, combined vehicle sales and production in Canada, Mexico and the United States are expected to surpass the peak recorded in 2000, when sales totaled 19.8 million units and assemblies topped 17.6 million. Both Canada and Mexico set sales records in 2014, and are poised to exceed those totals based on robust U.S. demand.

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Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.