The US auto sales for most of the automakers were down for the month of March. Automakers sold 1.55 million vehicles, a marginal rise over last year. Detroit carmakers, General Motors (GM, Financial) and Ford (F, Financial) witnessed sales decline of 2.4% and 3.4%, respectively. Fiat Chrysler (FCAU, Financial), on the other hand, saw its sales improve 1.7%. Among the top performers were Toyota (TM, Financial), Hyundai (HYMTF, Financial), Audi, and Kia Motors.
Though overall results were mixed, the industry appears to be on track to deliver 17 million vehicles this year – the highest since the 2008 financial crises. Let’s take a look at the details.
What do the numbers say?
Sales of the top U.S. automaker, General Motors, plunged 2.4% for the month to 249,875 units as compared with the last year. Car sales plunged across brands including Chevrolet and Cadillac, though sales of trucks and SUVs were quite strong. Chevy Silverado sales increased 7% to 45,193 units and GMC Sierra rose 3.2% to 17,395. The combined sales of trucks, SUVs and vans surged 14%. Besides, the sales of crossovers were up 6%. Fleet sales surged 5%, while retail sales plunged 5%. Typically the sales of trucks, SUVs and crossovers have been robust throughout the first quarter of the year.
Fords, the second largest U.S. carmaker, witnessed setbacks with sales falling 3.4% – proving to be another weak month for the automaker. The company could manage to sell 235,929 units. Sales of passenger cars including Fiesta, Focus and Fusion were down. The Blue Oval’s top selling vehicle, F- Series, also experienced a plunge of 4.6%. This hurt the automaker acutely. The company has been struggling to match the demand for pickups as its Dearborn and Kansas City facilities were being retooled for the new F-150. Production of the F-Series were impacted because of the temporary shutdown. But Ford is confident to stock its dealers sufficiently as the renovation is complete.
Fiat Chrysler, in contrast, was the only among the Big Three that saw sales gain. The company has been on a good run, seeing some astonishing sales gain in the past. Moreover, in March the company completed its 60th consecutive sales gain streak. Sale of this automaker surged 1.7%, thanks to Jeep and Chrysler brands whose sales increased 23% and 15%, respectively. Ram pickup sales rose 1%, while the sales of Fiat and Dodge plunged 5% and 24%, respectively. However, that has a negligible impact on the overall growth of this automaker. Reid Bigland, the head of the US sales for FCA US in Auburn Hills said:
"March was a tough month, yet we were able to extend our year-over-year sales streak,"
Foreign automakers leave a mark
Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, witnessed sales gain of 5% to 225,959 units as compared with a year earlier. The Japanese player sales for the month was relatively flat. But solid sales rise of 12% of its trucks and SUVs more than compensated for the lull in other segments and helped the company finish the month on a fantastic note. In addition, the combined sales of RAV4 and small SUVs surged 28%. A combination of all these made March a successful one for Toyota.
Hyundai’s sales went up 12% to 75,019. Volkswagen had a tough month with sales down more than 18%, but its subsidiary Audi’s sales rose 20%. Nissan sold 145,085 vehicles during the month. The combined sales of trucks and SUVs were up 15% on the back of heavy demand for its new Rogue crossovers.
March has been tough for some automakers, and good for others. Analysts are overall optimistic about 2015, expecting demand for trucks to remain strong. This should lift the Detroit automakers sales tally. In addition, lower gasoline prices should also boost auto sales.
