IRVINE, Calif. — New-car sales will hit 15 million seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) in May, which is an expected 6 percent year-over-year improvement, according to Kelley Blue Book. 

“The Big Three will continue to benefit from a strong pickup truck market, with each domestic automaker anticipated to post gains slightly better than the overall industry average,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior market analyst of automotive insights for Kelley Blue Book. “Meanwhile, Nissan is expected to post the single largest gain in sales this month, thanks to strong demand for the redesigned Altima, Sentra and Rogue, each of which experienced an increase of greater than 30 percent in sales last month.” 

Similar to previous years, Kelley Blue Book expects a strong surge in new-vehicle sales during Memorial Day Weekend since manufacturers typically offer some of the most attractive incentives of the year. For example, Chevrolet is offering $500 in Memorial Day Cash, in addition to some of the already generous offers available on their most popular models.

Full-size pickup trucks and compact crossovers will continue to drive the bulk of industry gains this month, with expected increases of 19.9 and 15.7 percent, respectively. 

“Growth in the truck segment has been driven by a jump in new-home construction, relatively affordable gas prices and high inventory levels,” said Gutierrez. “Each of the three major full-size domestic pickup trucks are available with a nearly 100 days supply, which has resulted in $5,000 or more in cash rebates for the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado and Ram.” 

While trucks have seen a surge in interest in recent months, small crossovers have been increasing market share for years; the segment has doubled its market share since 2007 and continues to gain share aggressively. Small crossover sales have been particularly strong this year, due to a slew of redesigns and new introductions such as the Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5.