Car sales take dip in May

More not-so-wonderful news: Annual sales rate was 11.8 million vehicles, down about 10 percent from April, but up a touch from May 2010. Actually, the May numbers were a bit of a mishmash, what with supply disruptions because of the Japanese earthquake, concerns over higher gas prices, and the anticipation of better deals later in the summer. Toyota sales fell 33 percent, while Chrysler sales rose 10 percent. From the NYT:

"Some buyers looked at the reports or maybe heard something about it and decided to wait instead of going down to the showroom and look," Jeff Schuster, executive director of global forecasting at the research firm J.D. Power and Associates, said. The Ford Motor Company and General Motors reported small declines in their sales but pointed to positive signs in purchases of smaller vehicles as fuel economy became a stronger selling point.

Good news is that Toyota and Honda appear to be in recovery mode, though it will take a while for inventory levels to be back to normal. Chart is below from Calculated Risk, and it gives you an idea of how low car sales are relative to historical levels. (I know it's hard to read, but the numbers go back to 1967.)