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At around 1.2 million unit sales, light trucks remained the largest U.S. auto market segment in August 2025, up from around 1.1 million unit sales in August 2024.

Global chip shortage affects supply

The second quarter of 2020 saw a significant drop in automotive sales volume compared to the year before. Most of the disruption was seen in May, before restrictions to curtail the coronavirus pandemic were lifted. Sales showed signs of recovery in the following months, before dropping again in 2021. The industry's inventory-to-sales ratio nosedived in May 2020, and has not fully recovered since. Supply issues were not felt as strongly across the automotive sector, while car demand was low due to national lockdowns brought on by the pandemic. However, as consumers' purchasing intentions picked up, vehicle stocks could not meet the new demand due to chip shortages, which led to production halts and cuts. 

U.S. vehicle sales gain momentum thanks to light truck sales

As the year 2020 came to an end, motor vehicle sales in the United States finished on a high note. Following the Covid-19 disruption, the U.S. auto sector began to recover in the third quarter. However, the semiconductor shortage and global inflation further impacted sales in 2021 and 2022. In contrast, 2024 was an encouraging year. U.S. motor vehicle sales grew to over 15.8 million that year, which was the highest it had been since the onset of the pandemic. This jump in sales was partly due to light truck retail sales, which exceeded their pre-pandemic level in 2024.