Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
(AP) - THE NUMBERS: The partial government shutdown and wrangling over borrowing have hurt auto sales. Data collected by J.D. Power and Associates showed that sales slowed to an annual pace of 15.3 million in the week ended Oct. 11.
THE ANALYSIS: Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for LMC Automotive, attributed the drop to consumers delaying big-ticket purchases due to uncertainty over the wrangling in Washington.
THE FUTURE: Schuster said sales could recover in the back half of October if Congress approves a debt deal. But they could fall next year if there's another budget confrontation.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)