Amid signs that the U.S. new-vehicle market has stopped growing, July marked the industry’s strongest selling rate of the year.
Through July, sales were 1.1 percent ahead of last year’s record pace. But several forecasters have reduced their outlook for the remainder of 2016, and some automakers are starting to fight the stagnating market with more aggressive incentives.
“I think it’s an indication, in a plateauing market, that the major players are going to protect share,” Mark LaNeve, Ford Motor Co.’s vice president for U.S. marketing, sales and service, said last week. “It’s a more competitive market than we’ve experienced in the last five or six years.”
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