US New Vehicle Sales for April Largely Exceeded Expectations

According to Wards data, US new vehicle sales kept rising in April. They increased by 4.3% MoM to 18.51 million SAAR (highest since July 2005 and up from 17.75 million prior) and largely exceeded expectations of 17.60 million SAAR (Bloomberg consensus).

Such an upward surprise compared to expectations (+5.2%) suggests that stimulus checks, disbursed in March, kept supporting economic activity in April. The figures also reduced concerns about the immediate impact of ongoing chip shortages. In this context, the auto sector will contribute positively to April retail sales that will be released on May 14th.