The U.S. automotive industry sold 1.2 million new cars and light-duty trucks in the month of June, a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 13.0 million vehicles. The June SAAR was marginally better than the prior month but significantly lower than the SAAR of 15.4 million vehicles recorded one year prior. June marks the 12th consecutive month in which the industry’s SAAR fell short of the prior year’s results.

For the six public companies comprising in the Hilco Parts Index, net sales for the first quarter of 2022 increased 12.5% as compared with performance in the first quarter the year prior.

First quarter U.S. sales of light-duty vehicles totaled 3.29 million, one of the worst single quarter tallies in a decade. The only quarter to post a worse result was the second quarter of 2021 at the height of the pandemic.

In this article we take a look at the changing tire industry and how the impact of ever-changing tariffs prior to the arrival of the pandemic and a precipitous drop in the number of miles driven during its height in 2020 have now been further exacerbated by reduced production output, increased raw material pricing, shipping delays and higher import costs.

The automotive industry is on a long march toward a future which, will no doubt, look and operate much differently than what we experience today.

This time last year the automotive industry was only cautiously optimistic. The last stimulus payment was to be made March 15 and enhanced unemployment benefits were scheduled to cease in September, so there was concern that sales might decelerate in the second half of the year.

Hobbled by a global pandemic, the U.S. light vehicle market only managed to sell 14.6 million vehicles in 2020. Sales tumbled quickly with the onset of stay at home orders, slumping to a 50-year low before staging a steady recovery.