Assessing retail vehicle sales based on observed changes in units tracked by vAuto, initial estimates of retail used-vehicle sales in May were down 3% compared to April but up year over year by 4%. The average retail listing price for a used vehicle decreased 0.5% over the last four weeks.  

Using estimates of retail used days’ supply based on vAuto data, an initial assessment indicates May ended at 44 days’ supply, up one day from 43 days at the end of April and down two days from May 2024 at 46 days.

New-vehicle sales in May were 2.5% higher than in the same month last year, and volume increased by only 0.3% from the very strong, tariff-induced April. The May sales pace, or seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), came in at 15.6 million, down 0.2 million from last year’s pace and lower than the 17.3 million level in April.

Combined sales into large rental, commercial, and government fleets were essentially unchanged, rising just 0.1% year over year in May, as the increase in rental fleet sales was offset by weakness in government and commercial. Including an estimate for fleet deliveries into dealer and manufacturer channels, the remaining new retail sales were estimated to be up 5.5% from last year, leading to an estimated retail SAAR of 13.4 million, down from 14.7 million in April but up from 12.8 million last May. Fleet share was estimated to be 16.9%, down from last year’s 19.2% share.