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U.S. Car Market Steams Toward Record Finish

Passenger vehicle sales in the U.S. for December are likely to surpass totals for any month in the past 10 years, pushing full-year volume to a record 17.5 million units, according to LMC Automotive and J.D.
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Passenger vehicle sales in the U.S. for December are likely to surpass totals for any month in the past 10 years, pushing full-year volume to a record 17.5 million units, according to LMC Automotive and J.D. Power.

They forecast December new-car sales will reach 1.71 million units— including 1.40 million retail deliveries—for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 18.1 million units.

The previous highs were set in July 2005, when retail sales reached 1.64 million and total sales were 1.80 million.

The annual sales record before this year was 17.4 million units in 2000. LMC chief forecasts Jeff Schuster says growth will slow in 2016 to one-third this year’s pace. But that will be enough to push sales to a new record of 17.8 million units, he predicts.

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