Expect April to finish with a softer used-car sales tally.

Same goes for new cars.

TrueCar released its monthly analysis of car sales Wednesday and said it expects there will be 3.4 million used-car sales this month. That would be a 15% year-over-year drop and a 5% decline from March.

The company is projecting about 1.25 million total new-car sales, which would be 21% softer year-over-year and 1% softer than March, adjusting for selling days.

Meanwhile, retail new-vehicle sales are predicted at 1.09 million, a 20% year-over-year decline and a 4% sequential drop.

“Despite higher fuel prices and the Fed increasing interest rates, this month we are seeing car sales maintain a similar pace as March,” TrueCar lead industry analyst Nick Woolard said in a news release, referring to the new-car market.

“Consumers continue to signal strong demand for vehicles with supply still being the contributing factor to lower sales year-over-year. Individual vehicles such as the Toyota Prius are showing signs of shifting demand for some consumers. In the case of the Prius we are seeing demand up 10% compared to last year in the first three weeks of April,” Woolard said.

Over at Cox Automotive, analysts are projecting 1.23 million new-car sales for the month, which would be down nearly 20% from April 2021 and off 1.7% from March.

“The situation on the ground has not changed significantly for months. Product availability remains constrained, and many customers can only order their vehicles for future delivery. Improved inventory conditions will likely not happen in 2022 as many customers are now waiting for their already reserved vehicles to be built,” Cox Automotive senior economist Charlie Chesbrough said in a release.

“We expect production volumes to improve in the second half of the year, but fulfilling existing orders may not allow dealer inventory to accumulate in any noticeable way.”

At J.D.Power, analysts forecasted 1.24 million total new-car sales, which would be down 21.5% year-over-year when adjusted for selling days and down 18.5% unadjusted. It projects a SAAR of 14.5 million, which would trail April 2021 by 3.9 million.

“The April sales pace may look disappointing compared with April 2021, but last April’s record sales pace was enabled by the combination of extremely strong consumer demand and enough inventory (nearly 1.7 million units) to turn that demand into actual sales. This April, demand remains strong, but with fewer than 900,000 units in inventory at dealerships, sales volumes will necessarily be well below year ago levels,” Thomas King, president of J.D. Power's data and analytics division, said in a news release. 

“However, as has been the case for the past two quarters, inventory constraints are delivering record prices and profitability. New-vehicle prices continue to set records, with the average transaction price expected to reach an April record of $45,232 — an 18.7% increase from a year ago and the second-highest level on record behind $45,247 set in December 2021.”