U.S. auto sales will climb just 3.4% this year to 15.4 million cars and trucks as the semiconductor shortages continue to constrain vehicle inventory, auto dealers predict.

For the first time since 1931, General Motors Co. isn’t the top-selling automaker in the U.S. The Detroit-based company lost its crown to Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp., which boosted sales 10% last year despite a 28% decline in the fourth quarter.

U.S. new vehicle sales rebounded slightly last year from 2020’s dismal numbers, but forecasters expect them to be more than 2 million below the years before the coronavirus pandemic.

After sounding an optimistic note in the first half of the year as soaring car prices padded their profits, auto executives have become more resigned to supply chain headaches after recent COVID-19 outbreaks in Malaysia hampered semiconductor production.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc., the rental car company founded with a dozen Ford Model Ts more than a century ago, filed for bankruptcy late May 22 after sweeping travel restrictions and the global economic collapse destroyed demand for its vehicles.

Zero-percent auto financing deals hit a record last month as carmakers kept the U.S. auto market from collapsing.

The auto industry — already fretting lengthy factory shutdowns and depressed new-vehicle demand — is starting to sound the alarm about a potential used-car price collapse that could have far-reaching consequences for manufacturers, lenders and rental companies.

FRANKFURT, Germany — Ratings agency Moody’s is lowering its forecast for global auto sales because of the new coronavirus outbreak.

Stronger-than-expected new car sales last month belied a dirty little secret: Automakers have been selling more vehicles to rental fleets in recent months to prop up volume.

A majority of top automakers said their U.S. sales increased in October from a year ago, Associated Press reported.