While many of the latest auto manufacturer reports on recent auto sales appear fairly positive, looking at latest release of the Department of Commerce light vehicle sales series you can see that for the better part of the last decade auto sales have been terrible, stuck in a perpetual declining trend since the late 90s with the current level of sales last seen way back in early 1983.With the tightening consumer credit conditions, structurally high unemployment and a decade long disappointing sales trend, recent auto sales results offer an interesting data-point but essentially paints a stark picture of significant economic weakness.
