April was another strong month for US light vehicle sales, although analysts have noted signs that the potential for further growth is limited.
Light vehicle sales hit 1.5m vehicles last month, a 3.6% increase from a year earlier, according to data provider Autodata. Sales were running at an annualised pace of 17.4m vehicles last month, an uptick on March's level.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Analysts say a favourable economy, good credit conditions, low fuel prices and a growing economy are all helping to underpin strong auto demand.
Ford Sales Analyst, Erich Merkle, also noted the continued strength of SUV sales. "If you take a look at where the sales are coming from, really hot right now are SUVs, not only in more of your base brands, but also luxury SUV's are really doing well," he said.
Sales of trucks and SUVs were buoyant again in April, up around 11%, while passenger car sales slipped by about 5%.
Ford delivered more than 70,000 F-series pickups in April. ""Ford's F-150 was the only truck to earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Top Safety Pick last month, and this really helped lift F-Series sales about 13% with over 70,000 trucks sold. This is the second month in a row where F-Series has surpassed the 70,0000 sales mark and it's our best performance in 11 years."
General Motors highlighted its retail mix last month. It said it delivered 200,656 vehicles in April to individual or "retail" customers, up 3% year-over-year.
"GM's retail growth over the last 12 months has outpaced the industry by a wide margin because our redesigned large pickups and SUVs are hits, we made smart investments in new segments like small crossovers and mid-size pickups, and our momentum in the car business is accelerating with each new model introduction," said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of Sales Operations. "GM bucked the industry trend with flat year-over incentives, we are managing with lean inventories and our Commercial and Government fleet business is growing."
However, analysts say the US auto market is close to a cyclical peak. If production cuts are necessary to prevent inventory growth, long-time observers will wonder if we could see a return to heavier incentives.
