rental car companies are still down.
Analysts say the higher prices and tight inventory
won’t be changing much anytime soon.
“These factors will continue into 2021, with
supply lagging demand and reflected in higher
prices for new and used vehicles,” said Karl
Brauer, executive analyst for the iSeeCars.com
auto website.
Schuster said he expects 2021 sales to rise to
15.7 million this year as inventory improves in
the second and third quarters. He doesn’t expect
a return to 17 million until at least 2024.
Among automakers, GM’s sales were down
11.9% for the year, while Toyota sales were
off 11.4%. Ford fell 15.4%, while Fiat Chrysler
was off 17.4%. Struggling Nissan reported
sales down 33.2% for the year, while Honda
fell 16.3% and Hyundai sales dropped 10%.
Volkswagen Group was down 12.8%, while
Subaru sales were off 12.6%.
For the year, sales of fully electric vehicles rose
9.9% to 260,092, according to Autodata Corp.
Sales of cars continued to fall, dropping to
28.3% of the market, with trucks and SUVs
making up 71.7%.
Ford’s F-Series pickups remained the nation’s
top-selling vehicle with 787,422 sales, down
12.2%. The Chevrolet Silverado was second at
586,675, up 2.8%. The Silverado ousted Fiat
Chrysler’s Ram pickup from the No. 2 slot. It
passed the Silverado in 2019. Toyota’s RAV4 was
the top-selling SUV at 430,387 in sales, while the
Toyota Camry was the most popular car with
294,348 in sales.