WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -

Based on the latest analysis from J.D. Power and Associates, it appears the auto industry is having a tough time accelerating over recent speed bumps, although recovery still seems to be on the horizon and the market likely improved from June.

Pointing out yet another month where second-half sales stalled, J.D. Power expects that when July’s results are officially tallied, the industry’s seasonally adjusted annualized rate will have failed to reach the 12 million mark yet again.

J.D. Power shared that retail sales were robust when July began amid Independence Day weekend but softened in the month’s second half. The same thing happened in June, analysts noted.

Though the retail SAAR will likely climb on a month-over-month basis from 9.3 million units to 9.6 million, the firm is projecting that the overall SAAR for July will be 11.8 million, following sub-12 million months for May and June.

June, specifically, hit an 11.4 million unit pace.

“The auto industry is having a difficult time shaking off adversity as vehicle sales start the second half of the year better than June but not as strong as many people had hoped,” explained Jeff Schuster, J.D. Power’s executive director of global forecasting.

“A recovery pattern is still expected, but the pace could be in question as reported weaker GDP growth in the first half of the year may dampen the outlook,” he continued.

The July forecast released by Edmunds.com last week was a bit more optimistic, as reported earlier by Auto Remarketing. Analysts with Edmunds were predicting an overall SAAR of 12.3 million units and a retail SAAR of 10.3 million. That said, the site still tempered its optimism a bit.

“Prices are falling as dealer inventories are becoming more stable, so this boost in sales over last month was expected, and it is encouraging news for the auto industry,” said Lacey Plache, chief economist at Edmunds.

“But some pricing and supply issues are still restraining market growth, and there is also an underlying question of whether there are larger economic issues at play,” Plache continued. “Exactly how consumers react to next month’s summer sales events will go a long way toward answering that question.”

TrueCar’s projections — also released last week — were more along the lines of what J.D. Power is projecting. TrueCar believes the overall SAAR will come in at 11.4 million for July.

And in an interview with Auto Remarketing,  Manheim chief economist Tom Webb said: "It looks like the July sales rate will be close to 12 million; maybe slightly above if we’re lucky. But in the first quarter, we were at a sales rate close to 13 million. Hopefully, we’ll get back to that level fairly quickly and without doing it with heavy incentives.”

Editor’s Note: Staff Writer Nick Zulovich contributed to this report.