New vehicle retail sales in the United States were down 13% in the first 12 days of March when compared to a similar time period a year ago, according to the Power Information Network (PIN), which collects retail sales data and claims retail transactions – as distinct from fleet/government transactions – are the most accurate measurement of true consumer demand for new vehicles.
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With an 8% increase in retail sales compared with a year ago, BMW was the only multi-franchise automaker to experience a gain in early March. Sales at American Honda were flat when compared to a year ago, and deliveries by the remaining seven manufacturers all declined.
Declines varied significantly among the seven manufacturers, according to PIN, with Volkswagen experiencing a 2% decline and General Motors down by 20%. Deliveries by Toyota decreased 9%, while the remaining manufacturers, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Hyundai and Nissan Motor, all experienced declines in the double-digits.
At the segment level, full size cars were the only segment to experience a year-over-year sales increase (up 6% when compared to a year ago). In contrast, all three light truck segments – SUVs, pickups and vans – had double-digit sales declines and lost market share.
In retail sales, GM led the industry with 21.3% in early March, (down from 23% a year ago). Toyota followed with 16.8% of the retail new-vehicle market, (up from 16.0%) and Ford declined to 16.3%, (down from 17.6% a year ago). Honda captured 11.6% of all retail transactions in early March, (up from 10% versus a year ago) and Nissan increased to 8.1%, (up from 8.0%). BMW also gained retail share, while Hyundai experienced a slight decline.
“Toyota, Honda and BMW continue to do well at the retail level,” said PIN senior director of industry analysis Tom Libby. “GM and Ford need to stop their retail share deterioration, and GM hopes their ‘March Madness’ campaign will help do that.”
The industry continues to move away from incentives, with total customer cash incentives (including subvented interest rates) down 23% year-over-year. The percentage of transactions with a cash rebate was also down by 3% in early March. However, this trend is not likely to continue for the remainder of the month as General Motors recently launched a new “March Madness” incentive programme.
“So far through the first quarter we’re pretty much on track with where we were last year, which turned out to be the third best selling year in history,” said JD Power and Associates chief economist of global forecasting Bob Schnorbus.
“However, it’s still difficult to know if the big incentives that were implemented last year and pushed some monthly sales to near record levels will return and have a significant impact on the remainder of the year.”
