Hawaii auto sales continue to decelerate, and the outlook is not expected to get better anytime soon.

With the state’s economic growth slowing, new-vehicle registrations reached the midway point of this year down 6.3% after plunging 8.1% in the second quarter, according to a report scheduled for release today by Hawaii Auto Outlook.

Registrations are expected to keep declining through 2020, the report said.

“Strong economic growth, rising employment, and increasing incomes have helped keep new vehicle sales at elevated levels (in recent years),” Jeff Foltz, editor of Hawaii Auto Outlook, wrote in the report produced for the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association. “However, several years of strong sales, softening used vehicle prices, and weakening consumer affordability are headwinds that are likely to push the market lower in 2019 and 2020.”

Hawaii Auto Outlook is now projecting new-vehicle registrations in the state to fall 4.2% this year to 54,100 to mark two straight years of declines. The forecast for new registrations was revised lower from the 54,250 that Hawaii Auto Outlook had projected in its last report, in May. New-vehicle registrations have been above 50,000 the last five years, including 56,482 in 2018.

Hawaii’s downturn in registrations is mirroring the U.S. market, which saw registrations decrease 4.5% during the first six months of this year.

Even with new-vehicle registrations falling, light trucks (which include vans, SUVs and pickups) continue to widen their market share in Hawaii over cars with 68.8% of consumers opting for the larger vehicles because of more visibility and additional room for storage. That is up from a 67.9% market share in 2018 and a market share of 48.7% in 2012.

The hybrid/electric vehicle market share topped 9% in the second quarter after finishing 2018 at just 7.7%. The Tesla Model 3 had by far the most registrations through midyear with 832, followed by the Nissan Leaf with 213 and the Toyota Prius with 190.

While new-vehicle registrations can be representative of auto sales, the two don’t always align because a buyer can purchase a vehicle one month and register it in another month. The data are based on county Department of Motor Vehicles registrations.

Toyota was the best- selling brand in Hawaii during the first half of the year with a 27.4% market share, more than double the 13.1% market share in the U.S. as a whole. The remaining top five brands in Hawaii were Honda at 14.4%, Nissan at 8.3%, Ford at 6.4% and Chevrolet at 5.8%. The largest percentage gains were registered by Tesla (219.3%), Volvo (47.1%), Ram (19.6%), Lexus (16.8%) and Subaru (8.5%).

The state’s top 10 vehicles in sales were the Toyota Tacoma, Toyota 4Runner, Toyota RAV4, To­yota Corolla, Honda CR-V, Honda Civic, Tesla Model 3, Toyota Camry, Ford F-Series and Chevy Silverado.

New-vehicle registrations fell in all four major islands, with Kauai incurring the biggest drop at 9.9%. Maui registrations fell 8.7%, Hawaii island registrations declined 6.6% and Oahu, which has the most registered vehicles, fell 5.6%.