March Sales Numbers Beat Automotive Industry Expectations: Jessica Caldwell

sales

“This was the month where automotive sales beat all expectations,” says Jessica Caldwell, Director of Industry Analysis with Edmunds.com,  to Jim Fitzpatrick, of CBT News. March rounds out with a 17.4 SAAR. The number comes in a lot higher than what we excepted for 2018. General Motors and Fiat-Chrysler (the Jeep Brand) were two big outliers this month. These two brands can be credited for exceeding the expectation as all the other brands held their own as expected.

We have not seen a response to the influx of used car into the market just yet. As time goes on and as the summer approaches, Jessica suspects that we will start seeing buyers really weigh the difference between new or off-lease vehicles. “This may spark a competition between new and used.” Jessica Added.

Another number we noticed climbing was the gas price. Could this affect the large SUV or crossover sales? Jessica does not believe so. She explains that people are buying the smaller versions of the larger vehicles that just so happen to be gas efficient. Unless there is a serious spike in gas that holds course for a period of time, gas and it’s prices have a minimal impact on sales thus far.March Sales

Electric Vehicles are starting to gaining traction in the market. Hundi showcased its Kona last week at the New York Auto Show. The smaller SUV gets 250 miles per charge. This SUV speaks to the buyer in range, body type, and style that make people more interested.

There are more luxury SUV sales currently then cars. Yet, the first quarter tends to not be the time where luxury sales come alive. Mostly, they sell towards the end of summer or end of the year. American luxury brand are making effort to beef up their vehicle lines as we also saw at the New York Auto Show to support demand.

Vehicle sales for March 2018 in comparison to sale in March 2017:

Automaker Mar-18 Mar-17 Pct. chng.
    BMW 31,311 31,015 1.00%
    Mini 4,531 4,987 -9.10%
    Rolls-Royce* 112 110 1.80%
  BMW of N.A. 35,954 36,112 -0.40%
    Alfa Romeo 2,576 555 364.10%
    Chrysler 19,499 16,969 14.90%
    Dodge 49,184 50,076 -1.80%
    Fiat 1,544 2,922 -47.20%
    Jeep 98,382 67,983 44.70%
    Ram 44,878 51,749 -13.30%
  FCA US 216,063 190,254 13.60%
    Maserati 885 1,312 -32.50%
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles 216,948 191,566 13.30%
    Ford 233,669 225,341 3.70%
    Lincoln 9,352 9,554 -2.10%
  Ford Motor Co. 243,021 234,895 3.50%
    Buick 26,834 20,957 28.00%
    Cadillac 14,494 12,861 12.70%
    Chevrolet 199,367 172,458 15.60%
    GMC 55,646 49,948 11.40%
  General Motors 296,341 256,224 15.70%
    Acura 13,537 11,696 15.70%
    Honda 128,855 125,531 2.60%
  Honda Motor Co. 142,392 137,227 3.80%
    Genesis 1,386 1,755 -21.00%
    Hyundai 60,152 67,510 -10.90%
    Hyundai Motor America 61,538 69,265 -11.20%
    Kia Motors America 50,645 49,429 2.50%
  Hyundai-Kia 112,183 118,694 -5.50%
    Jaguar 3,260 4,953 -34.20%
    Land Rover 10,972 7,965 37.80%
  Jaguar Land Rover N.A. 14,232 12,918 10.20%
  Mazda N.A. 33,302 24,549 35.70%
  McLaren Automotive 132 84 57.10%
    Mercedes-Benz 31,374 31,963 -1.80%
    Smart USA 110 389 -71.70%
  Mercedes-Benz USA 31,484 32,352 -2.70%
  Mitsubishi Motors N.A. 14,319 11,766 21.70%
    Infiniti 17,432 18,266 -4.60%
    Nissan 145,103 150,566 -3.60%
  Nissan North America 162,535 168,832 -3.70%
  Nissan/Mitsubishi** 176,854 180,598 -2.10%
  Subaru of America 58,097 54,871 5.90%
  Tesla Motors* 6,000 4,400 36.40%
    Lexus 27,032 27,935 -3.20%
    Scion 31 -100.00%
    Toyota 195,750 187,258 4.50%
    Toyota/Scion 195,750 187,289 4.50%
  Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. 222,782 215,224 3.50%
  Volvo Car USA 8,233 5,356 53.70%
    Audi 20,090 18,705 7.40%
    Bentley 165 249 -33.70%
    Lamborghini* 90 88 2.30%
    Porsche 4,756 4,479 6.20%
    VW 32,548 27,635 17.80%
  VW Group of America 57,649 51,156 12.70%

Numbers in this table are sourced from a combination of other media outets and OEM reports.