U.S. Jan. Auto Sales Seen Down 3%, but Industry Still Rolling

Automakers on Wednesday are likely to report a 3% decline in U.S. auto sales for January after a surprisingly strong December stole some thunder from the start of the new year, industry analysts and economists said. Still, with December’s good showing pulling sales from January, normally the weakest month of the year in terms of sales volume, some analysts cautioned against putting too much emphasis on the month’s annualized selling rate.