Record Sales Now Leading To A Used Market Glut As Lease Returns Pile In

All those years of rising U.S. auto sales are starting to work against carmakers.

A glut of used vehicles has started to depress prices. That trend will intensify as Americans will return 3.36 million leased cars and trucks this year, another jump after a 33 percent surge in 2016, according to J.D. Power. The fallout has already begun, with Ford Motor Co. shaving $300 million from its financial-services arm’s profit forecast for this year.

PUGPROUD - 1/23/2017 11:37:18 AM

+1 Boost

Good for consumers and should drive new and used car prices lower.

nguyenvuminh - 1/23/2017 1:59:13 PM

+2 Boost

I've always thought it's strange to call them "sales" when they're actually more like a conditional rent since many of those cars are returned at the end of the lease. I know, nitpicky.