New Vehicle Retail Demand Slumping, Edmunds Forecasts
SANTA MONICA, CA — April 26, 2017 — Edmunds, the leading car shopping and information platform, forecasts that 1,431,695 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in April for an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 17.0 million. This reflects nearly an 8 percent decrease in sales from March 2017, and a 4 percent decrease from April 2016.
"The industry has been holding its breath to see if the days of peak sales are over, and while Q1 sales managed to remain stable, we're starting to see the slowdown in 2017 we've been anticipating," said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds executive director of industry analysis. "These year-over-year declines may become more typical as the year progresses, but there's no reason to be in panic mode. Historically, car sales are still strong."
| Sales Volume |
April 2017 Forecast |
April 2016 |
March 2017 |
Change from April 2016 |
Change from March 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | 250,078 | 259,557 | 256,224 | -3.7% | -2.4% |
| Ford | 216,438 | 229,739 | 234,895 | -5.8% | -7.9% |
| Toyota | 201,031 | 211,125 | 215,224 | -4.8% | -6.6% |
| Fiat Chrysler | 180,419 | 189,005 | 190,254 | -4.5% | -5.2% |
| Honda | 138,813 | 148,829 | 137,227 | -6.7% | 1.2% |
| Nissan | 123,714 | 123,861 | 168,832 | -0.1% | -26.7% |
| Hyundai/Kia | 112,719 | 118,721 | 118,694 | -5.1% | -5.0% |
| VW/Audi | 43,376 | 44,913 | 46,340 | -3.4% | -6.4% |
| Industry | 1,431,695 | 1,491,901 | 1,549,991 | -4.0% | -7.6% |
Edmunds estimates that retail SAAR will come in at 13.6 million vehicles in April 2017, with fleet transactions accounting for 19.5 percent of total sales. An estimated 3.6 million used vehicles will be sold in April 2017, for a SAAR of 38.4 million (compared to 3.4 million — or a SAAR of 38.4 million — in March).
| Market Share | April 2017 Forecast |
April 2016 |
March 2017 |
Change from April 2016 |
Change from March 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | 17.5% | 17.4% | 16.5% | 0.1% | 0.9% |
| Ford | 15.1% | 15.4% | 15.2% | -0.3% | 0.0% |
| Toyota | 14.0% | 14.2% | 13.9% | -0.1% | 0.2% |
| Fiat Chrysler | 12.6% | 12.7% | 12.3% | -0.1% | 0.3% |
| Honda | 9.7% | 10.0% | 8.9% | -0.3% | 0.8% |
| Nissan | 8.6% | 8.3% | 10.9% | 0.3% | -2.3% |
| Hyundai/Kia | 7.9% | 8.0% | 7.7% | -0.1% | 0.2% |
| VW/Audi | 3.0% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
More insight into recent auto industry trends can be found in the Edmunds Industry Center at https://www.edmunds.com/industry-center/.
About Edmunds
Edmunds is the leading car information and shopping platform, helping millions of visitors each month find their perfect car. With products like Edmunds Your Price, Your Lease and Used+, shoppers can buy smarter with instant, upfront prices for cars and trucks currently for sale at more than 13,000 dealer franchises across the U.S. Edmunds' in-house team of unbiased car shopping experts provide industry-leading vehicle reviews and shopping tips, as well as welcome all car-shopping questions at our Help Center, via email at help@edmunds.com and on Twitter and Facebook. Edmunds is based in Santa Monica, Calif. and has a satellite office in downtown Detroit, Mich.
