(December 29, 2014) CHICAGO — Cars.com forecasts December light, new-vehicle sales will hit 1,510,500 units, up 11.3 percent from December 2013 and 16 percent from last month. This marks the highest December unit sales count since December 2006. A SAAR of 16.86 million is expected for the month.

"New-car sales are finishing the year on a high note, with total industry sales expected to exceed 16.5 million units in 2014," said Jesse Toprak, chief analyst at Cars.com. "Bolstered by low gas prices, SUV and full-size truck sales have been particularly strong this month – even beyond normal seasonality."

Retail sales remain steady and are projected to make up 85.5 percent of total sales in December, up 0.5 percent from the previous month.

Looking forward to the new year, Toprak added, "We expect sales to continue on a very positive trajectory, with the industry set to hit 17.1 million units in 2015."