Car Sales Settle into a Groove in April

SANTA MONICA, CA--April 24, 2014: Edmunds.com forecasts that 1,401,606 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in April for an estimated Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 16.2 million. The projected sales will be an 8.7 percent decrease from March 2014, but a 9.1 percent increase from April 2013. The forecast anticipates that the auto industry will enjoy its best April performance since dealers sold 1,444,587 vehicles in April 2006.

"April's numbers suggest that car shoppers are still motivated to buy new cars, erasing any doubts raised by lackluster sales at the beginning of the year," says Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. "The sales performance the last two months is more in line with what we projected for 2014, and there's every reason to believe that car shoppers will continue to keep this pace."

*NOTE: April 2014 had 26 selling days, April 2013 had 25 and March 2014 had 26  

Edmunds.com estimates that retail SAAR will come in at 13.4 million vehicles in April, with fleet transactions accounting for 17.3 percent of total sales. An estimated 3.08 million used cars will be sold in April, for a SAAR of 35.4 million (compared to 3.43 million – or a SAAR of 34.9 million – used car sales in March).