Analysts at the research firm Cox Automotive expect U.S. car sales to just tip over the 17 million mark by the end of December. That would make it the fifth year in a row that car sales have exceed 17 million.
The group says total car sales for 2019 will drop only a little from the year before, about 1.3% – but there are some signs of softening in the market.
Cox analysts say without big boosts in sales to companies that maintain fleets, car sales would likely have dropped more.
And automakers have been offering fairly sizeable incentives to keep sales robust.
Sales of trucks, SUVs and crossovers continue to dominate the market.
GM was the sales leader in 2019, with more than 2,877,000 vehicles sold. Ford and Toyota were close behind.
