July Fleet Sales: Detroit Down, Asians Up

by TTAC Staff

August 12th, 2013 10:45 AM

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RetailJuly 2013 retail salesJuly 2013 % retailJuly 2012 retail salesJuly 2012 % retailJuly % changeGeneral Motors189,10081%153,50076%23%Toyota Motor184,60095%158,40096%17%Ford Motor151,00078%126,80073%19%American Honda138,60098%114,60098%21%Chrysler Group125,70090%103,60082%21%Hyundai-Kia98,20085%98,40089%0%Nissan N.A.95,80088%91,30093%5%Top 7983,00087%846,60085%16%FleetJuly 2013 fleet salesJuly 2013 % fleetJuly 2012 fleet salesJuly 2012 % fleetJuly % of changeGeneral Motors45,00019%47,70024%–6%Ford Motor42,70022%47,20027%–9%Hyundai-Kia16,80015%11,70011%43%Chrysler Group14,40010%22,50018%–36%Nissan N.A.13,30012%7,1007%87%Toyota Motor8,8005%6,5004%34%American Honda2,8002%2,3002%21%Top 7143,80013%145,00015%–1%Source: Automotive News

After a continuing effort to reduce reliance on fleet sales in the U.S. market, all three domestic American automakers reported declining fleet sales in July while they were up significantly at Nissan, Toyota and Hyundai-Kia. Chrysler fleet sales were down 36 percent from the same period last year, Ford was down 9 percent and GM down 6 percent. In terms of units, the domestic brands’ fleet sales were down 15,300 vehicle. Meanwhile, sales to fleets were up 34% at Toyota, up 43% at Hyundai-Kia Automotive and a whopping 87 percent at Nissan’s North American operations.

Overall fleet sales for the seven biggest car companies were off 1% to 143,800 while retail volume was up 16% to 983,000 units.

For the year, all three domestic automakers report that retail sales have been a greater percentage of the mix. At Chrysler, dealer deliveries are up 16% while fleet deliveries were down 8%, at GM retail was up 12% while fleet sales were flat, compared to 2012, and while fleet sales were up at Ford, 8%, their percentage of Ford’s overall sales went down because retail deliveries were up 15%.

So far this year, Detroit automakers have trimmed their reliance on fleet sales and boosted retail. Chrysler leads this trend, increasing sales through dealers 16 percent while reducing fleet 8 percent. GM fleet activity through seven months was flat but retail was 12 percent higher. Ford was up 8 percent on fleet and 15 percent on retail.

For the first 7 months of 2013, Toyota was down 6% on fleet sales and up 10% on retail deliveries. Nissan was up 8% for fleet and 9% for retail. A 7% drop in retail sales at Hyundai-Kia, caused in part by inventory issues related to Korean labor unrest, was offset by a 62% increase in fleet sales, leaving overall sales flat.

#Chrysler #DomesticAutomakers #FleetSales #Ford #GM #Hyundai-Kia #Nissan #Sales #Toyota

TTAC Staff

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3 of 107 comments

El scotto on Aug 12, 2013

Bah. Give me whatever when it's on the company dime, a fast convertible for another beach vacation, and a pick up for going back to the family farm. Do the numbers mater? Not really; they get sold after X amount months/miles.

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- Highdesertcat on Aug 13, 2013
  
  And there usually is a waiting line for them.
  
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Stephen on Aug 12, 2013

Wonder if it's a tax/accounting result. I seem to remember in the article on vans mentioning van sales were cratering this yr compared to last. If there was some tax incentive to unload inventory in 2012 that would have a marked impact on the US Big 3. (I know many folks were trying to get income crammed into 2012 to avoid what were thought to be the forthcoming Bush tax-cut rollbacks.) Perhaps the same applied to larger companies,renew their fleets when they had the cash in 2012 and possibly earn depreciation and/or investment credits since they anticipated higher taxes in 2013,leaving less cash for purchasing? Note,I'm obviously not a tax specialist,so those who are may either correct me,agree or point out I'm almost correct,but not really :)

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