Cleveland, Ohio – Auto sales continued their upward climb in March, but the pace of growth slowed significantly, especially when considering that March 2016 had two more selling days than the previous year.
Overall, sales were up about 3%, driven by strong truck sales at Ford, the continuing boom of the Jeep brand, big increases for the Accord and Civic at Honda, strong sales of the Altima and Maxima at Nissan.
The only major automakers to post sales declines were Toyota where car sales dropped 9%, and Hyundai/Kia. In the case of the Korean automaker, sales were 201 vehicles lower than they were a year ago, a negligible 0.15% decline.
The sales increased, the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) declined from January and February, fleet sales were up, and automakers used more cash-back incentive to attract buyers during the month, all signs that overall demand is slowing.
Even with that slowdown, however, sales remain at record levels. And with a shift from car sales to trucks and SUVs, the vehicles that are being purchased are carrying higher profit margins.
“Customers continue buying high-end SUVs and trucks, helping the Ford brand increase its average transaction prices by more than $1,600 per vehicle in March – nearly double the industry average,” says Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president of U.S. sales. “We have been seeing solid sales momentum in the first quarter across our entire portfolio, with car, SUV, and truck sales up across the board.”
At General Motors, trucks and vans outperformed cars and trucks, due mainly to a 58% decline in sales of the Chevy Cruze compact. That vehicle is undergoing changeover to a redesigned model, and the automaker has been lowering fleet sales to rental car companies. GM did sell 35 Cadillac CT-6 models, launching the company’s new flagship luxury car.
At Toyota, the trend away from cars has been particularly damaging, sapping results for the popular Camry, Corolla, and Prius models. Also leading to the big year-over-year declines – last year, Toyota was the only major automaker that posted a car sales increase in March, so the company was facing tougher comparable numbers than it was a year ago.
Source: Automakers