U.S. auto sales begin recovery from March coronavirus drop: J.D. Power analysts

(Reuters) – Auto retail sales in the United States are beginning to recover from a massive slump in March due to the outbreak of the coronavirus and nationwide stay-at-home orders, according to analysts at research firm J.D. Power on Wednesday.

Retail sales stabilized during the first two weeks of April and are now showing signs of recovery, the analysts said.

J.D. Power, which receives extensive sales data from U.S. auto dealerships, compares actual sales to its pre-virus forecast for the industry.

“For the week ending April 19, retail sales were down 48% from the pre-virus forecast, an improvement of 3 percentage points from the week ending April 12,” the analysts said.