Automotive Industry

A guide to industry research on automotive manufacturers including industry trends, news, statistics, and associations

What's in This Guide

History - Books provide backgound about how industries operate and insight into the operation of prominent companies.

The Industry - Industry surveys supply background information on how the industry operates, identify industry trends, and often list the top companies in the sector. Market research offers data on market share, distribution channels, brands and consumer demographics.

The Numbers - Statistics and reports on industry performance are collected by many trade associations, government agencies and private research firms.

The Competition - Identify the key players in the industry. Find company profiles, financial data and analysis.

The Environment - Read about issues related to the economic, regulatory, social, technological and global conditions of the industry.

News - Business magazines, newspapers and trade journals are key sources for identifying industry trends and keeping up-to-date on the latest industry happenings.

Associations - Trade associations monitor industry trends, collect industry data and promote the interests of their members.

Getting Started with Automobile Industry Research

Trends in the automotive industry can be found in reports from KPMG, Ernst & Young, Deloitte,  and Strategy& (from PwC).

For data use Ward's Automotive Yearbook. Reference 2nd Floor - HD 9710 .U5 W3

Industry Metrics

SAAR - Seasonally adjusted annual rate of vehicle sales - Annual SAAR is an adjustment of sales data to account for seasonal changes in demand and production. Produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

Monthly Sales - Companies report their unadjusted sales numbers at the end of each month. This data is available in the Wall Street Journal.

Days' Supply of Inventory - Current inventory is divided by average daily sales.