Haig Stoddard
Senior Industry Analyst - Forecasting

Haig focuses on market analysis and future vehicle trends.
Latest From Haig Stoddard
Consolidation Could be in the Offing for North America Vehicle Assembly Plants
More new-plant announcements are possible for electric vehicles but expect consolidation in the existing North America manufacturing footprint that could include shift cuts, vehicle redeployment or closures
May U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales to Fall from April, But Q2 Still Expected to Improve on Q1
With expectations that higher inventory at the end of the month will lead June’s results to rebound from May’s sequential decline, the second quarter's annualized rate is pegged to rise to 14.3 million units from Q1's 14.1 million. Also, year-over-year gains are forecast to resume in the third quarter and entire-2022 is expected to finish at 15.2 million units.
North America Production Still Headed for First Quarterly Increase Since First-Half 2021
Although supply-chain challenges still heavily crimp most automakers’ ability to build to capacity, April’s year-over-year production gain was the first in 11 months, and Q2’s expected increase will be the first for any quarter since the year-ago period.
Outlook Q2 2022 North American Barometer: Still Calling for Growth But Outlook Continues to Weaken
Geopolitics, inflation and never-ending global supply-chain challenges are heavily weighing on the North American market. In the wink of an eye, the outlook has reversed from upside bias to downside. The sales and production forecasts for 2022 have been significantly cut since the end of last year and are in danger of not showing growth from 2021. Haig Stoddard will detail the current outlook in North America for the second half of 2022 and touch on prospects for growth in 2023, highlighting signs and data indicators to watch for that point to more strength or weakness.
U.S. BEV Update: April Sales Down from March, But Up 62% Year-Over-Year
With Tesla’s hefty growth expected to continue, further boosted by strong gains from other automakers, U.S. BEV sales are expected to maintain April-like increases for the rest of the year.
April U.S. Light-Vehicle Inventory Drops from March; Down 41% Year-Over-Year
Initial modeling projects annualized sales in May will rise from April, but inventory posts another month-to-month downturn before turning up in June.