Passenger car sales in China have dropped again, as the industry braces for the first annual decline since 1990.

In November, Chinese auto sales fell 14% year-on-year to 2.55 million, according to figures released by the government-backed China Association of Automobile Manufacturers on Tuesday. For the 11 months for the year, sales were down 1.7% to 25.42 million vehicles year-over-year.

One major factor was the declining purchasing power among mainstay buyers from third- and fourth-tier cities, which comprise the majority of the country's GDP and population. Over the last two years, rising property costs and a greater outflow of labor from smaller to larger cities have taken a toll on overall consumer spending.

The industry decline also comes amid erratic signals from markets and regulators. While lower-end vehicles saw contractions, luxury car sales actually experienced steady growth last month. Companies including Mercedes-Benz, Ford and Tesla have also moved to increase rather than decrease production in China in an attempt to skirt Chinese tariffs on U.S. cars, though U.S. President Donald Trump recently claimed that China has agreed to reduce and remove these tariffs.

China is the world's largest auto market. Analysts said the market has too many players and that a consolidation is to be expected, and that spending behavior should rationalize after years of frenzied, record-breaking car sales.

Related: China Car Sales Set for First Drop in Three Decades, Industry Exec Says