Edmunds.com has forecast 1,331,415 new cars and trucks will be sold in the US in November for an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 18.3m, both records for the month. The projected sales will be an 8.3% decrease from October 2015, but a 2.5% increase from November 2014.

"Not even a decade ago, November was a notoriously slow sales month, and it typically ranked as the third worst month for sales in the calendar year," said director of industry analysis Jessica Caldwell. "But in recent years, car dealers have joined other retailers to embrace Black Friday as a big sales driver. Since 2010, November has delivered one of the three best SAARs in each year, and last year, Thanksgiving weekend accounted for twice as many sales as any other weekend in November. We expect to see both trends continue this year."

Edmunds projects that Volkswagen will continue to struggle as a result of its ongoing 'Dieselgate' crisis with VW/Audi sales in November down 14.4% year over year, with VW brand sales alone falling 26.9% over the same period.