Consumers have more leeway in their budgets, said Ben Ayers, a senior economist at Nationwide Economics, pointing to an increase in the use of revolving credit, along with the still-resilient job market.
US automaker General Motors Co raised its earnings expectations for the year on Tuesday, saying demand was stronger than expected. Even as electric vehicle leader Tesla has been cutting prices to stimulate demand, GM was able to raise average wholesale prices for North American deliveries by $1,800 per vehicle.
“We feel very good about current prices and consumers seem to be demanding our products,” Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said during the GM conference call.
Other companies also performed well on the strength of their pricing. Swiss company Nestle SA raised prices almost 10% in the quarter, despite sales volume falling 0.5%.