American vehicle sales increased in April, but are down three percent compared to a year ago.
April sales reached 16.88 million seasonally adjusted annualized units compared to 16.62 million units in March. This marks the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
During the same period, light trucks sales grew from 10.3 million to 10.5 million annualized units.
Lower trade-in value and higher interest rates could be to blame for slower sales, Yun Cohen, research assistant at the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU), said.
“Car makers are feeling pressured to increase incentives, which reached $3,499 in April and surpassed the previous record for the month set in April 2009, according to J.D. Power,” Cohen said in in a NAFCU Macro Data Flash report. “On the positive side, demand and consumer confidence remain strong. Overall, a solid labor market, improving wage growth, and a buoyant stock market should support stable sales throughout the year, but robust sales growth is unlikely.”
The six largest automakers all witnessed a decrease in sales in April compared to last year: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (-6.8 percent), Ford (-7.1 percent), General Motors (-5.9 percent), Honda (-7 percent), Nissan (-1.5 percent) and Toyota (-4.4 percent).
In April 2016, auto sales were 17.4 seasonally adjusted annualized units, according to Autodata.