January Car Sales Low as Expected, Reports Edmunds.com

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January Car Sales Low as Expected, Reports Edmunds.com

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — January 21, 2010 — An early look at January auto sales indicates a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate, or SAAR, of about 10.5 million, according to Edmunds.com, the premier resource for automotive information.

This may be disappointing to industry observers, but Edmunds.com's December analysis forecasted that January SAAR was likely to come in lower than December.

"The discount opportunities between Christmas and New Year's have become legend. The story is so compelling that the deals don't actually have to be good, but people will still buy," said Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl. "There is no such story in January. Deal sensitive shoppers are waiting for Presidents' Day weekend for the deals that they've been programmed to expect."

Seasonal adjustments used to calculate SAAR assume that January sales will be worse than December's. Edmunds.com predicts that the raw sales numbers will show a more precipitous drop but, despite January SAAR, believe 2010 auto sales are on track to hit 11.5 million units.

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Edmunds publishes four Web sites that empower, engage and educate automotive consumers, enthusiasts and insiders. Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive consumer information, launched in 1995 as the first automotive information Web site. Inside Line is the most-read automotive enthusiast Web site. CarSpace is an automotive social networking Web site. AutoObserver.com provides insightful automotive industry commentary and analysis. Edmunds is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit. Follow Edmunds.com on Twitter @edmunds and fan Edmunds.com on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/edmunds.