US light vehicle sales rise to 16.0 million annual rate in December
BEA data showed December light vehicle sales up 1.9% from November, while full-year 2025 sales rose 2.4% from 2024.
By Sarah Jenkins · Chief Macro Economics Correspondent
· 2 min read
US light vehicle sales increased to a 16.0 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in December, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported, according to Calculated Risk. The December pace was 1.9% above November’s rate but 4.9% below the level recorded in December 2024.
The reading was modestly stronger than the consensus forecast, Calculated Risk said. For 2025 as a whole, light vehicle sales were 2.4% higher than in 2024, marking a year in which demand shifted around tariff concerns and the expiry of an electric-vehicle tax credit.
Monthly gain follows a volatile sales year
The December increase closed a year of uneven monthly readings. Calculated Risk said sales exceeded a 17 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in March and April, when consumers accelerated purchases ahead of tariffs. Sales then weakened in May and June.
Demand received another temporary lift in August and September, according to Calculated Risk, as buyers acted before the EV credit ended at the close of September. That timing effect left the December figure as a cleaner post-credit reading, although still below the year-earlier month.
Seasonally adjusted annual rates translate a month’s selling pace into an annualized number while adjusting for recurring seasonal patterns. The measure allows investors, manufacturers and policymakers to compare monthly vehicle demand without treating holiday timing, model-year changes or other regular calendar effects as changes in the underlying pace.
Long-run data frame the December reading
Calculated Risk presented BEA light vehicle sales data through December and noted that one chart tracks the series from 2006, while another extends back to 1967, when the BEA data begin. The long history places December’s 16.0 million annualized pace below the 17 million-plus rates seen during two spring months of 2025 but above the prior month’s rate.
Light vehicles include the passenger cars and light trucks that make up the core of the consumer auto market. Monthly sales data are watched because they reflect household demand for durable goods and also feed into production, inventory and financing conditions across the auto supply chain.
The BEA figures, as cited by Calculated Risk, show that December did not reverse the year-over-year decline in the monthly selling rate. The full-year comparison, however, remained positive, with 2025 sales running 2.4% ahead of 2024 despite the midyear weakness and the demand shifts linked to policy deadlines.
This story draws on original reporting from Calculated Risk.
