Susie Kalgren says her family purchased a 2016 Volvo hatchback when they added a second child.
Along with a GMC Yukon they bought the past couple of years, they're not in the market for another vehicle anytime soon, the State College, Pa., woman said Tuesday outside the Tennessee Aquarium.
After seven years of growing sales to consumers like Kalgren, new car sales declined last month as demand seems to be slowing for most major automakers.
General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Fiat Chrysler, Nissan and Honda on Tuesday all posted weaker U.S. sales than a year ago.
The 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan sits on the showroom floor at the company's New York flagship store during a media preview for the New York International Auto Show, Tuesday, April 11, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)Hamilton County sales
New vehicles titled in the county rose last month over a year ago. Car registrations for the year are slightly higher:› April 2017: 1,044 vehicles, up 3.9 percent› For the year: 4,251 vehicles, up less than 1 percentSource: Hamilton County Clerk’s Office
Top selling vehicles
1. Ford F-Series, 70,6572. Ram pickup, 43,3213. Chevrolet Silverado, 40,1544. Honda CR-V, 32,6715. Toyota RAV4, 31,7576. Toyota Camry, 31,4287. Honda Civic, 31,2118. Toyota Corolla, 29,1369. Nissan Rogue, 27,38610. Honda Accord, 26,938
Volkswagen of America, however, showed an increase in sales, up 1.6 percent over a year ago with the Chattanooga-based Passat 9.2 percent higher, the company reported.
Also, Volkswagen Group, which includes Audi and Porsche, posted sales 3.1 percent above April 2016.
Still, industry analysts expected total industry April sales to be down anywhere from 2 percent to 4 percent, but still run at a healthy annual rate of around 17.1 million vehicles.
Kelley Blue Book said it looks like 2017 U.S. sales will fall short of last year's record 17.5 million for the first annual sales drop since 2009. It expects full-year sales of 16.8 million to 17.3 million.
New car sales, to some exent, are being hurt by the prolonged life of more vehicles.
IHS Markit said last year the average age of light vehicles on the road is up to 11.6 years, up from 11.5 years old the previous year.
Registrations for light vehicles in operation in the U.S. hit a record 264 million in 2016, an increase of more than 6.2 million, or 2.4 percent.
"Quality of new vehicles continues to be a key driver of the rising average vehicle age over time," said Mark Seng, global automotive aftermarket practice director at IHS Markit.
Thane Mitchell of Rossville said Tuesday that he's not looking for a new vehicle.
"There are too many good old cars out there," he said.
The industry's sales drop in April comes as VW's new midsize Atlas sport utility vehicle hits dealerships this month. The seven-seater, assembled in Chattanooga, is the largest vehicle the German automaker has ever produced in the U.S.
Michael Harley, a KBB analyst, said he expects VW to boost its marketing for the launch of the new SUV, especially as the company tries to bounce back from its diesel-emission scandal.
"VW is trying to put this [diesel scandal] behind it," he said. "This thing has got to change. VW will pull out all the stops."
At Nissan, which has its U.S. headquarters outside of Nashville, overall sales fell 1.5 percent as SUV demand couldn't overcome slowing car sales. Sales of the Rogue small SUV rose almost 40 percent, but car sales fell nearly 14 percent.
At General Motors, with a production plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., sales dropped 5.8 percent as strong performances from some SUVs and the Cruze compact car couldn't offset falling pickup truck demand.
Toyota reported a 2 percent sales decline for the month as healthy sales of the RAV4 small SUV were overcome by falling demand for cars such as the Camry and Corolla. Fiat Chrysler sales fell 7 percent for the month as it continued to exit the small and midsize car business. Sales of the normally strong Jeep brand fell, by 17 percent.
Honda sales fell 7 percent as Accord midsize car sales fell 15 percent and couldn't be balanced out by a 13 percent jump in sales of the CR-V small SUV.
Ford reported a 7.2 percent decline due largely to car demand that tumbled 21 percent.
VW's total April sales hit 27,557 units with the Golf, including Golf SportWagen and Alltrack, up 40.7 percent over April 2016, the company said. Passat sales totaled 6,148 units.
However, sales of VW's Tiguan SUV fell 22.7 percent to 2,939 units.
For the year, VW sales of 96,426 units are up 7.7 percent over 2016, the company reported.
Despite a nationwide drop in sales, the number of new cars and trucks sold in Hamilton County continued to outpace last year's sales volumes, according to vehicle registration figures with the Hamilton County Clerk's office.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.con or 423-757-6318.