Apr 30, 2020   SOURCE: PR NewsWire

New Vehicle Sales Continue Downward Slide in April, Edmunds Forecasts

SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The car shopping experts at Edmunds say that April will be a record down month for the auto industry due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, forecasting that 633,260 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. for an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 7.7 million. This reflects a 52.5% decrease in sales from April 2019, and a 36.6% decrease from March 2020. Edmunds analysts note that this is the lowest-volume sales month dating back to at least 1990; the second worst month for sales in the past 30 years was January of 2009, when 655,000 vehicles were sold.

"April auto sales took the biggest hit we've seen in decades," said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds' executive director of insights. "These bleak figures aren't just because consumers are holding back on their purchases -- fleet sales are seeing an even more dramatic drop as daily rental business has dried up. Like many other industries, the entire automotive sector is struggling as the coronavirus crisis continues to cripple the economy."

Edmunds experts note that plans for easing shelter-in-place orders across the country in May could open up opportunities for automakers and dealers to capture some deferred demand, but there is still economic uncertainty ahead.

"April is likely the bottom for auto sales, so hopefully there's only room for improvement from here," said Caldwell. "But with employment and consumer confidence at new lows, the question remains: Will people be in the position to purchase new cars? Although automakers are doing their part by offering landmark incentives, those might not be enough if consumers cannot recover financially from this crisis."

SALES VOLUME FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER


          SALES       
        2020 April     
     April          
     March         
       Change from     
       Change from
    VOLUME               Forecast                     2019            2020    April 2019          March 2020



          GM                      123,408          231,375         167,339              -46.7%              -26.3%



          Ford                    103,105          194,219         169,012              -46.9%              -39.0%



          FCA                      91,766          172,900         127,593              -46.9%              -28.1%



          Toyota                   75,679          183,866         135,730              -58.8%              -44.2%


           Hyundai/Kia              56,396          108,410          81,500              -48.0%              -30.8%



          Honda                    48,363          125,775          77,153              -61.5%              -37.3%



          Nissan                   35,443           95,698          78,159              -63.0%              -54.7%



          VW/Audi                  25,694           46,333          35,258              -44.5%              -27.1%


           Industry                633,260        1,333,560         998,268              -52.5%              -36.6%




     *NOTE: April 2020 had 26 selling days, April 2019 had 25 and March 2020 had 25.

Edmunds estimates that retail SAAR will come in at 6.7 million vehicles in April 2020, with fleet transactions accounting for 13.0% of total sales.

MARKET SHARE FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER


         Market      
         2020 April    
     April  
     March   
        Change from      
        Change from
    Share               Forecast              2019      2020   April 2019            March 2020



         GM                        19.5%    17.4%    16.8%                   2.1%                  2.7%



         Ford                      16.3%    14.6%    16.9%                   1.7%                 -0.6%



         FCA                       14.5%    13.0%    12.8%                   1.5%                  1.7%



         Toyota                    12.0%    13.8%    13.6%                  -1.8%                 -1.6%



         Hyundai/Kia                8.9%     8.1%     8.2%                   0.8%                  0.7%



         Honda                      7.6%     9.4%     7.7%                  -1.8%                 -0.1%



         Nissan                     5.6%     7.2%     7.8%                  -1.6%                 -2.2%



         VW/Audi                    4.1%     3.5%     3.5%                   0.6%                  0.5%

More insight into recent auto industry trends can be found in the Edmunds Industry Center at http://www.edmunds.com/industry-center/.

About Edmunds
Edmunds guides car shoppers online from research to purchase. With in-depth reviews of every new vehicle, shopping tips from an in-house team of experts, plus a wealth of consumer and automotive market insights, Edmunds helps millions of shoppers each month select, price and buy a car with confidence. Regarded as one of America's best workplaces by Fortune and Great Place to Work, Edmunds is based in Santa Monica, California, and has a satellite office in Detroit, Michigan. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

CONTACT:
Talia James-Armand
Senior Manager, Public Relations
PR@Edmunds.com
310-309-4900
http://edmunds.com/about/press

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SOURCE Edmunds