Despite winter’s persistence in parts of the US, March light vehicle sales blossomed, posting their best performance of the year.
Deliveries totalled nearly 1.66m as volume grew by nearly 100,000. The 6.4% year on year increase was the biggest gain since February 2016. The seasonally adjusted annualised rate (SAAR) came in at 17.48m, 660,000 units ahead of March 2017 and the most robust reading so far in 2018.
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With the March surge, first quarter sales were 2% ahead of 2017.
Aided by discounts and increased fleet sales, the Detroit automakers were the big winners in March. Combined sales from Fiat Chrysler, Ford and General Motors were up 10.9% and market share increased 1.8%. Fleet volume increased slightly from last March, with Ford leading the way. About 34.9% of Ford’s total sales were to rental, commercial and government fleets while deliveries to fleet customers accounted for 24.9% of FCA’s March volume and 22% of GM’s sales.
The Japanese brands took a hit of nearly a full percentage point as modest increases in sales of Honda and Toyota vehicles were dragged down by a deficit reported by Nissan. Mazda and Mitsubishi posted double digit gains and Subaru came through with another monthly record but the combined volume wasn’t enough to overcome the comparatively lacklustre showings of the major players.
Kia sales rose but larger sibling Hyundai came up short again as the Korean automakers continue to struggle. Hyundai has a lot riding on the new Kona as it hopes the crossover will help balance its car heavy product line.
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By GlobalDataThe Europeans were evenly divided: three reported sales growth; three reported shortfalls.
Jaguar Land Rover came up a winner as increased deliveries of Land Rover SUVs covered Jaguar’s red ink. Resurgent Volvo turnover grew 53.7% in March and the new Atlas and refreshed Tiguan boosted Volkswagen‘s results by 12.7%. BMW took the luxury crown in March though Mercedes led in the first quarter tallies.
The Ford F-Series truck topped the charts in both March and first quarter reckonings with the Chevy Silverado coming in as runner-up. The Nissan Rogue was the best selling SUV and took the No. 3 spot from FCA’s Ram pickup. The Toyota Camry, which has been the top selling passenger car in the US for years, placed No. 5 for March but lost a spot to the Toyota RAV4 in the quarterlies.
Small crossovers held four of the top 10 positions in both March and year to date sales with three spots each going to pickups and passenger cars.
Crossovers and SUVs continued to grow as a segment. At the end of the first quarter, the utes claimed 46% of the total market, an increase of 4.6 percentage points compared to last March. The market share for passenger cars shrank to less than a third, down 4.7 percentage points to 32.4% of sales.
With light trucks accounting for more than two thirds of total sales, a battle is brewing over the aggressive fuel economy standards imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency under former President Obama. Given the shift in consumers’ vehicle preferences, those goals and the even more stringent standards demanded by California may well be impossible to meet. EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said there will be changes, an announcement cheered by automakers.
Pruitt is also said to be considering rescinding the waiver granted by the Clean Air Act in 2009 that allowed California to set its own standards and gave other states the ability to select between federal and California requirements. This could set the stage for a battle between Washington and some of the most populous states in the nation.
* indicates a sales record.
**Volkswagen Group figures include Audi, Bentley, Porsche and Volkswagen brands
Other includes estimated sales for Aston-Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, McLaren, Rolls-Royce and Tesla
