US June auto sales tally caps off best quarter for new sales

Although the level of sales came down a notch from a monster May, June's tally is nothing to sneer at. Both the University of Michigan's and the Conference Board's consumer confidence indices surged in June, leading buyers into showrooms. 

Higher incentive spending at roughly +3.6% Y/Y according to TrueCar, also helped boost sales. With continued improvement in the labor market, slowly leading into stronger wage growth, auto sales should maintain a relatively lofty level ahead. 

A go-slow Fed should also ensure that borrowing costs remain cheap. While further gains from this level will likely be harder to come by, auto sales are on pace to come in just shy of 17mn on the year.

New auto sales grew over 12% annualized this quarter, suggesting strong quarterly spending on durables. Overall, growth in consumer spending is likely to accelerate from 2.1% in the first quarter to roughly 3% in the second, says Economic TD.