Colorado’s new vehicle market took a major hit this year in light of COVID-19 economic impacts, the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association’s analysis concluded Wednesday.

In the first 10 months of 2020, Colorado’s new car registrations fell 34.8% and light truck registrations fell 9.4% compared to this time last year. That makes for a total decline of 15% or more than 31,000 new vehicle registrations.

“The pandemic continues to affect our nation and the slow recovery for automakers and new car dealers,” said CADA President Tim Jackson. “New vehicle registrations are slowly recovering but with the brakes on.”

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Jackson said Colorado’s decline in new vehicle registrations has improved compared to the spring and is better than the U.S. average by nearly 1%.

He attributes the subtle market improvement to vehicle demand being bolstered by low gas prices and interest rates, as well as innovations by car dealers like selling online and providing home deliveries.

However, the state’s market is still struggling overall. 

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In Colorado, 2020 registrations increased only for Lincoln and RAM vehicles, by 2.5% and 3.3%. The state’s leading vehicle brands are Toyota, Ford, Subaru, Chevrolet and Jeep.

Registration is also down in Colorado for every country brand, with Japanese brands being hit the hardest at an 18.7% decline. European brands are down 15.8%, domestic brands 12.4% and South Korean brands 4.6%.

Hybrid and electric vehicles are also down in the state, declining by 3.8% and 2.4% compared to last year.