Carmakers Face Another U.S. Sales Decline

Analysts say U.S. car sales in July probably slipped about 2% year-on-year, marking the seventh consecutive month of mild contraction.

Most carmakers will report July sales later this week. But Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has now joined General Motors and Ford in publicly reporting sales on only a quarterly basis.

Many experts say full-year car sales in the U.S. will drop below 17 million units in 2019 for the first time since 2011. That was the year that volume, rebounding from the Great Recession in 2008, surged 11% to a hefty 12.78 million units.

New-car prices are at record highs, but that trend is helping to offset the slippage in total sales volume. J.D. Power estimates that consumers in the U.S. will spend more than a combined $2 billion more on new cars in 2019 than they did last year.