One million new-car buyers are gone and they're not coming back soon [View all]

The U.S. auto industry faces sobering new math: Some one million prospective buyers have defected from the new-car market since the start of the decade—and they aren’t expected back soon.

Until recently, auto executives, analysts and economists believed that U.S. new-car sales were on a steady climb back to volumes last seen before the pandemic closed factories and scrambled global supply chains.

That’s no longer the case. General Motors, Ford Motor, Toyota and other automakers have said they are planning for sales of new cars to shrink or stagnate this year after consumers—stung by persistent inflation, rising fuel prices and high interest rates—are balking at prices that have risen to around $50,000 on average.

Americans were buying around 17 million cars and trucks a year before 2020; industry analysts don’t expect the market to return to that level until the end of the decade or later. They now forecast total annual sales of about 16 million vehicles or fewer this year and that outlook has grown even dimmer as the conflict in Iran keeps gas prices high.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/one-million-new-car-buyers-are-gone-and-they-re-not-coming-back-soon/ar-AA24dPM7

Who didn't see this coming?