Edmunds, the leading car shopping and information platform, forecasts that 1,431,695 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in April for an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17.0 million. This reflects nearly an 8 percent decrease in sales from March 2017, and a 4 percent decrease from April 2016.

"The industry has been holding its breath to see if the days of peak sales are over, and while Q1 sales managed to remain stable, we're starting to see the slowdown in 2017 we've been anticipating," said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds executive director of industry analysis. "These year-over-year declines may become more typical as the year progresses, but there's no reason to be in panic mode. Historically, car sales are still strong."

SALES VOLUME FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER

*NOTE: April 2017 had 26 selling days, April 2016 had 27 and March 2016 had 27.

Edmunds estimates that retail SAAR will come in at 13.6 million vehicles in April 2017, with fleet transactions accounting for 19.5 percent of total sales. An estimated 3.6 million used vehicles will be sold in April 2017, for a SAAR of 38.4 million (compared to 3.4 million – or a SAAR of 38.4 million – in March).

MARKET SHARE FORECAST, BY MANUFACTURER