Supply Chain Research

U.S. automotive sales took a step forward in December with year over year growth of 6.4% for all vehicle types including a 12.0% rise in sales of foreign light trucks and a 7.5% improvement in sales of all foreign-built vehicles. Exporters may be expecting a continued but slower improvement. Panjiva’s U.S. seaborne import data shows total shipments improved by 4.5% year over year in December, led by a surge in shipments by Daimler and Volkswagen of 53.1% and 47.4% respectively.