Shortages of computer chips and other parts continued to hobble the U.S. auto industry last year, contributing to vehicle sales dropping 8% from 2021 to their lowest level in more than a decade.

While prices on new and used vehicles remain 30% to 50% above where they were when the pandemic erupted, signs are pointing to many vehicles becoming slightly more affordable.

Vehicle sales in the U.S. are expected to fall 17.3% this year to the lowest level in a decade as semiconductor shortages and other supply chain problems continue to hamper production.

DETROIT — Prices of new and used automobiles are staggeringly high, and that’s partly responsible for strong earnings last year by AutoNation, the country’s largest dealership group.

U.S. auto sales will climb just 3.4% this year to 15.4 million cars and trucks as the semiconductor shortages continue to constrain vehicle inventory, auto dealers predict.

For the first time since 1931, General Motors Co. isn’t the top-selling automaker in the U.S. The Detroit-based company lost its crown to Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp., which boosted sales 10% last year despite a 28% decline in the fourth quarter.

U.S. new vehicle sales rebounded slightly last year from 2020’s dismal numbers, but forecasters expect them to be more than 2 million below the years before the coronavirus pandemic.

After sounding an optimistic note in the first half of the year as soaring car prices padded their profits, auto executives have become more resigned to supply chain headaches after recent COVID-19 outbreaks in Malaysia hampered semiconductor production.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc., the rental car company founded with a dozen Ford Model Ts more than a century ago, filed for bankruptcy late May 22 after sweeping travel restrictions and the global economic collapse destroyed demand for its vehicles.

Zero-percent auto financing deals hit a record last month as carmakers kept the U.S. auto market from collapsing.