New vehicle sales in the U.S. and Japan increased year over year in August, while China and Europe posted a decline in sales, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis.
US new vehicle sales rise YOY in August
The overall nonseasonally adjusted U.S. vehicle sales rose 10.5% to 1.64 million units in August from 1.48 million units a year ago, according to data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Passenger car sales in the U.S. for the period dropped 1.16% to 435,684 units from 440,789 units in the year-ago period. Sales of trucks, minivans and SUVs for the period totaled 1.2 million units, up 15.48% from 1.04 million units in August 2018.

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Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. sold 248,334 vehicles in August, up 11.3% from 223,055 in the year-ago period.
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. reported a 17.6% rise in U.S. sales for August at 173,993 vehicles. At Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., sales jumped by 13.2% year over year to 127,230 vehicles.
General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV no longer report monthly sales figures.
Interest rates for new vehicles averaged 5.8% for the second month in a row in August, car shopping experts at Edmunds said in a Sept. 4 statement. Average down payments for new vehicles also dipped below $4,000 for the first time in more than a year, according to Edmunds.
"Shoppers who made it to the dealership this Labor Day weekend got to take advantage of slightly more generous offers than we've been seeing all year, but this shouldn't be taken as a sign of a dramatic turnaround in the market," said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds' executive director of industry analysis. She added that the "model-year sell-down is still in full swing, and automakers and dealers are moving things along just like they should at this time of year."
European car sales decline YOY in August
Car sales across Europe dropped 8.6% in August following a modest increase in July, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, or ACEA, shows.
New passenger car registrations, or sales, reached 1.07 million units in August, down from 1.17 million in August 2018, according to ACEA data for the European Union and the European Free Trade Association, or EFTA, countries of Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

All five major European markets saw demand fall in August.
Spain registered a decline of 30.8% in registrations year over year. Sales in France were down 14.1%, while the U.K. posted a 1.6% decline.
Among the EFTA countries, Iceland posted a 45.2% decline in auto sales, while Norway saw registrations drop 16.9%.

Due to a scheduled summer break, the ACEA released data for European passenger car sales in both August and July on Sept. 18.
In July, sales increased to 1.33 million, up 1.2% from 1.31 million units in the year-ago period, ACEA figures showed.
EU markets posted mixed sales results for the month.
Germany registered a 4.7% increase in registrations in July year over year. The U.K. posted a 4.1% decline in sales in July, while France saw registrations drop 1.8%.
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Major auto manufacturers also reported sales declines for August for the EU and the EFTA region.
Volkswagen AG's registrations dropped 8% in August to 295,627 units. The company's Volkswagen brand posted a 14% decline in sales, while the Audi brand's registrations declined by 9.1%.
French carmaker PSA Group's sales dropped 5.4% year over year to 151,934 units, as sales of its Peugeot brand slid 3.4%. Sales of the company's Citroën brand also decreased by 8.1%.
Sales at Renault SA fell 23.6% to 108,577 as sales of the company's Renault brand fell 38% year over year.
In July, European sales at PSA Group increased by 6.4% during the month, while Volkswagen's sales fell 2.2%.
Japan sales rise, China reports a decline
Sales of new vehicles in Japan increased by 4.9% from a year earlier as Toyota and Honda Motor posted an increase in sales for August.
Sales reached 317,179 vehicles in August, up from 302,340 vehicles in the year-ago period, according to data from the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Toyota sold 102,748 vehicles during the month, up from 98,741 vehicles sold in August 2018. Honda Motor sold 53,183 units during the month, more than the 43,962 vehicles it sold in the year-ago period. China's passenger car sales fell 7.7% year over year to 1.65 million units in August, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows.



