AMERICAN'S BUYING MORE IMPORTS

The American International Automobile Dealers Association released August 2015 sales figures. AIADA represents America's approximately 10,000 international nameplate franchises whose brands accounted for 55.3 percent of all vehicles sold in the United States last month, down slightly from 55.6 percent in July.

AutoData Corp. reports that the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) in August was 17.8 million units versus 17.3 million units a year ago. This is the highest reported SAAR since July 2005 and the highest August SAAR since 2003. Industrywide, 1,577,407 light vehicles were sold last month, compared to 1,511,261 in July and 1,586,015 a year ago. Sales for all brands in 2015, unadjusted for business days, are up 3.8 percent from 2014.

Despite having one less selling day than August 2014 and losing Labor Day sales to September through a calendar quirk, August's sales were stronger than many analysts predicted. August's sales winners included Infiniti, up 16.1 percent; Kia, up 7.7 percent; and Subaru, up 4.9 percent for a monthly record of 52,679 vehicle deliveries. Light trucks and crossovers dominated the market in August with sales up 8.6 percent from a year ago. Car sales slipped 10.3 percent.

“Circumstances beyond the industry's control, including the timing of the Labor Day holiday and the volatility of stock market, failed to put the brakes on 2015 sales,” said AIADA President Cody Lusk. “The outlook is bright for the remainder of the year and dealers are more confident than ever in the strength of their products.”

International brands sold 872,838 units in August, up from 839,991 in July and 808,768 units in June. Asian nameplates occupied 46.6 percent of the U.S. market, a decrease from 46.8 percent in July but an increase from 45.4 percent in June. European nameplates fell from 8.8 percent of the market in July to 8.7 percent in August. Domestic brands rose from 44.4 percent in July to 44.7 in August.