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Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020

Are pickup truck sales meaningful indicators of economic growth in the states?

Christopher Hutton, Gigafact
yes

Economists have found that light-truck sales numbers, while not a perfect indicator, often reflect the state of the U.S. economy overall, largely because of their connection to home construction.

During the 1994-2006 period, pickups generally made up just over 18% of all sales of new light vehicles each year, according to TD Economics. That percentage only dropped below 18% in 2006, when the housing market began to go south. Pickup sales continued to drop until hitting bottom in 2009. A "construction rebound" began in 2013, and pickup sales grew by 11.7% that year.

DataTrek observes that pickup sales between 2015 and 2019 seemed to demonstrate "the same slow but steady growth" of most small businesses. "For them, purchasing a new vehicle is entirely discretionary; they can always fix the old one and keep it running another year if they are worried about business conditions."

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