LIVE: US auto sales

Automakers will release their sales numbers for March throughout Monday.

Analysts forecast that total vehicle sales rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17.30 million, according to Bloomberg.

Here's the latest scoreboard:

• Nissan: 3% (2.8% expected)
• Ford: -7.2% (5.9% expected)

Tesla, which operates on its own calendar, reported record deliveries of its electric cars in the first quarter. Deliveries jumped 69% to 25,000, rebounding after delays in the previous quarter, the company said on Sunday.

The data on sales come as a growing number of Americans struggles to pay their car loans. The 60+ day delinquency rate for subprime auto loans is at the highest in at least seven years, according to Fitch.

Auto sales were driven to new highs partly because of the availability of cheap credit and incentives from auto makers.

After rising to a record high for a seventh straight year in 2016, the car market may have peaked for now. That's intensifying competition for the remaining loan supply and driving up the credit risk for lenders, according to a Moody's report released last week.

More to come ...