DesRosiers Automotive Consulting said car sales fell 13.3 percent in April compared to the same month last year.

The consulting firm estimates that 140,785 new light vehicles were sold in the month, a figure slightly higher than the 140,460 cars sold in March and much lower than April 2021 sales.

DesRosiers says the seasonally adjusted annual rate for April came in at 1.44 million for the month, down from 1.66 million for April of the previous year when it first declined from the adjusted sales of 1.92 million in March before a supply shortage occurred.

Andrew King, managing partner at DesRosiers, says supply problems have dominated the market over the past year with few signs of short-term improvement.

The automotive industry has been struggling with a computer chip shortage caused by a series of manufacturing disruptions due to the pandemic and increased demand for vital chips in other industries.

Looking back, April 2019 sales reached about 185,000 units after more than a year of demand-related sales declines.