(March 25, 2016) SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Edmunds.com forecasts that 1,655,462 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in March for an estimated Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 17.2 million. The projected sales will be a 23.5 percent increase from February 2016, and a 7.3 percent increase from March 2015.

"March auto sales show another month of positive year-over-year growth, rounding out a consistently strong first quarter for the industry," said Jessica Caldwell, director of Industry Analysis.  "The sales we saw in these three months sets us up for another potentially record-breaking year, especially as we begin to approach the popular summer selling season."

Edmunds.com estimates that retail SAAR will come in at 13.4 million vehicles in March, with fleet transactions accounting for 22 percent of total sales. An estimated 3.6 million used cars will be sold in March, for a SAAR of 36.7 million (compared to 3.5 million — or a SAAR of 37.4 million — used car sales in February).