The government shutdown may affect car sales

Retail sales were booming, except for the auto industry, before the government shutdown put a halt to it.

On Oct. 15, theNY Times reported that General Motors and Hyundai feared that car sales would decline due to the government shutdown.

Both automakers felt that the effects of the shutdown would cause customers to develop anxiety about buying cars.

While Ford, Toyota, and other automakers did not think the government shutdown would affect their sales, they could be wrong.
Bloomberg reported that there had been a 0.4 percent increase in purchases in September and a 0.1 percent increase in August. However, there was little increase in the purchase of cars before the shutdown.Any sales gained before the shutdown may be lost now.

Since the 16-day shutdown, Americans are holding on more tightly to their money. It also, doesn’t help that the compromise reached to end the shutdown is temporary. Depending on what happens, some people may find themselves back in a government shutdown and out of work.

Washington Post noted that automakers are waiting for Friday to see what effects the government shutdown has had on their sales.