DETROIT—Major automakers on Jan. 3 shrugged off declines in U.S. new vehicle sales in December and said they were bullish about 2019 even as economists warned that rising interest rates will discourage consumers from buying cars in the year ahead.
“Despite recent market turbulence, the data we have in hand suggests an economy that remains on solid footing heading into the new year,” Ford Chief Economist Emily Kolinski Morris said on a conference call. “Consumers seem to be looking through market volatility to focus on continued positive job and income conditions.”
