SANTA MONICA, Calif. -

If consumers continue to keep grabbing up vehicles like they have been earlier this month, then April’s seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate for the new-car market could top 14 million units, according to Edmunds.com.

However, the site tempered this notion by suggesting that the market is likely to tap on the brakes toward the end of April, resulting in a SAAR more in line with Edmunds’ initial projection of 13.1 million units for the monthly rate.

“This quickened sales pace will likely settle, as it seems there has been a rush of consumers anticipating a shortage, and most of those sales are likely behind us,” explained Ray Zhou, senior analyst at Edmunds.com. “Inventories will soon get leaner, too, as production stoppages in Japan won’t allow dealers to restock as quickly, and that may cause some consumers to delay their purchases.”

Moving along, Edmunds also found that dealers saw their turn rates become quicker in April, as they dipped from 58 days at the start of the month to 52 days by month’s end.

This suggests that consumers were preparing for what Edmunds projects will be diminished supply and heftier prices during the summer.

As far as full-year 2011, Edmunds is maintaining its prediction for 12.9 million unit sales. Explaining why, Edmunds suggested that the only impact supply limitations will likely have on sales is to delay these sales until production is ramped back up later in the year.

That said, Edmunds stressed that the Japanese disaster aftermath “remains fluid and unpredictable,” meaning that a number of phenomena could result in more market shifts. 

“Even a moderate impact on production for Japanese automakers that lasts through most of the summer could lower new car sales to 12.6 million, and a more severe impact could push sales down to as low as 12.2 million,” explained Lacey Plache, chief economist for Edmunds.

Additionally, Edmunds noted that higher fuel costs have helped lead to car price increases. This is particularly true for the smaller cars.

In fact, prices for compact cars prices have climbed $230 on average, Edmunds noted. Sales and purchase consideration has jumped for this segment, as well, in light of higher fuel costs.

Prices in car segments, overall, showed a $120 month-over-month increase during April’s first week, Edmunds noted.