World Vehicle Sales Up 2.7% in May

Automakers delivered 7.78 million vehicles worldwide in May, improving 2.7% from same-month 2016 after a slow April.

Demand was strong in South America for the third time this year, soaring 18.3% to 343,000 units. Still, the total was around 500,000 just five years ago.

Brazil witnessed a huge 16.8% jump to 196,000 units. While it still is the region’s largest market by far, Brazil has gone from a 78% share in 2009 to around 57% currently.

Argentina picked up the slack in May, improving 24.4% to 74,000 vehicles and accounting for 21.7% of the region. Chile (+23.9%) and Uruguay (+46.3%) also saw big gains.

For the first five months of the year, South America sales were 9.1% ahead of same-period 2016 at 1.53 million units.

Sales were up across Europe, too, rising 7.5% to 1.86 million for the month. France saw an 8.7% boost to 233,000 units, Germany’s total grew 12.9% to 356,000 and Italy sales increased 8.4% to 223,000.

With voters focused on the election and perhaps concerned with political uncertainty, vehicle sales in the U.K. slipped 7.6% to 219,000. A year after the Brexit referendum not much has been resolved, while year-to-date sales fell 1.0% to 1.33 million units.

Several smaller markets in Europe experienced double-digit gains. Austria sales rose 15.2% to 37,000 units and Romania saw a 37.8% increase to 14,000. Sales in the Netherlands grew 23.8% to 44,000 and were up 16.1% year-to-date after declining in 2016.

Overall, Europe sales were 4.5% higher than January-May 2016 with 8.89 million deliveries.

In North America, May sales inched up 0.7% from year-ago to 1.89 million. Demand was slow in the U.S., dipping 0.5% to 1.54 million vehicles, and falling 2.2% year-to-date with five months of losses. Forecasts call for summer incentives to turn sales around in the coming months.

Mexico’s total of 126,000 units beat last year’s May record by 1.0%. Dealer incentives helped consumers see beyond an interest-rate increase, pushing year-to-date sales 4.7% ahead of like-2016.

Canada experienced 10.9% growth with 220,000 sales. Low interest rates and a strengthening economy helped push sales to a record-high monthly total.

Accounting for less than 20% of the region, Canada’s and Mexico’s sky-high numbers couldn’t balance out declines in the U.S. Through May, North American auto dealers sold 8.57 million vehicles, falling 1.1% behind five-month 2016.

Sales in the Asia-Pacific region fell 0.6% to 3.32 million units, due to a 1.9% decline in China. Excluding the large market, the region’s total increased 4.8% from same-month 2016.

India sales rose 5.7% to 308,000 vehicles and Japan sales soared 12.4% to 373,000, while South Korea saw a 6.9% decrease to 155,000.

Demand was high in the Pacific; Australia saw a 6.4% increase to 103,000 units and New Zealand sales jumped 17.5% to 13,000.

The Asia-Pacific region sold over 18 million units in the first five months of 2017, outpacing year-ago’s 17.25 million by 4.4%.

Globally, automakers delivered over 39 million vehicles through May, a 3.1% increase over like-2016.

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