Attendance at the three-day First Hawaiian International Auto Show that wrapped up Sunday was down 4.8 percent from the year-earlier period, according to Motor Trend Auto Shows, which produces the event.

“This may follow the current softening of the new car market here and around the country,” said Dave Rolf, executive director of the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association.

Motor Trend reports the annual percentage change in attendance for the show but does not disclose actual attendance numbers.

Auto sales have been slowing with new-vehicle registrations in Hawaii down 4.4 percent in 2018 for the first time after seven consecutive years of gains. New-vehicle registrations are forecast by Hawaii Auto Outlook to fall an additional 3.1 percent this year.

Rolf said the show interestingly blended the old with the new.

“With the Pali Highway closed for repairs this year, car clubs were not able to get as many participants, so the clubs were interspersed with the new car exhibits this year, creating a mad mix of history and the future,” he said. “Showgoers commented on the delight of seeing the old and the new, side by side.”

Rolf said one show attendee told him he had been to all 20 of the First Hawaiian International Auto Shows that have been held at the Hawai“i Convention Center (it previously was held at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall), and he reported that this show was the “most complete … the most spectacular” of them all.

”He named all the pre-production 2020 models on exhibit, he pointed out all the nuanced changes in the exotic vehicles, he commented on the new technology he was able to discover. His was the most comprehensive report ever received by a showgoer, and summed this seamless, spectacular show well.”