March Auto Sales

Updated: 08-Feb-22 19:11 ET

Highlights

• U.S. light vehicle sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 18.01 million units in March versus a SAAR of 17.04 million units in February. The March run rate was up 1.7% from the SAAR of 17.71 million units for March 2018.
• Total domestic sales increased to 13.65 million SAAR from 12.70 million SAAR in February.
• On a seasonally adjusted basis, domestic auto sales for March increased to a SAAR of 3.93 million from a SAAR of 3.77 million in February. The sales rate was 4.6% below the year-ago period.
• On a seasonally adjusted basis, domestic truck sales increased 8.9% to 9.72 million SAAR in March from 8.93 million SAAR in February. The sales rate was 6.8% above the year-ago period.

Key Factors

• BMW +2.9% yr/yr
• Fiat Chrysler -7.3% yr/yr
• Ford -5.5% yr/yr
• General Motors Q1 -7.0% yr/yr
• Honda +4.3% yr/yr
• Hyundai-Kia +5.6% yr/yr
• Mercedez-Benz USA -2.7% yr/yr
• Nissan -7.2% yr/yr
• Subaru +6.0% yr/yr
• Tesla estimated +16.9% yr/yr
• Toyota Motor U.S.A. -3.5% yr/yr
• VW Group of America +14.2% yr/yr

Big Picture

• The strength in March sales was fueled by light truck sales, which speaks to the healthy appetite in the U.S. for larger vehicles, which also carry higher price tags.
• According to J.D. Power data cited by Automotive News, average incentive spending per new vehicle was estimated to have declined 5.5% year-over-year to $3,689.