While the highest sales rate of the quarter, year-ago sales were up sharply as consumers pulled forward purchases due to impending tariffs.
New light-vehicle sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16.3 million units in March 2026, down 8.7% year-over-year, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association’s latest Market Beat report authored by chief economist Patrick Manzi.
The steep year-over-year decline reflects an unusually strong March 2025 baseline, when consumers rushed to dealer lots ahead of newly announced tariffs on imported vehicles and parts. As CollisionWeek reported in April 2025, that pull-ahead activity drove a notable surge in
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