An anticipated 1% year-over-year decline in U.S. auto sales in March 2015, a slightly shorter sales month than March 2014, failed to materialize as a number of auto brands reported significant improvements and most decreases were slight. As a result, U.S. auto sales actually improved slightly last month and rose nearly 6% in the first-quarter of 2015.
Premium auto brands left an especially strong footprint on the improved March figures. Audi, BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz – the four top-selling luxury brands in March – posted 20%, 7%, 9%, and 9% gains, respectively.
Meanwhile, at the top of the heap, Toyota easily outsold Chevrolet to claim the second spot behind Ford, which said a retail sales increase was counteracted by a sharp fleet sales decline.
| Automaker | March 2015 | march 2014 | % Change | 2015 YTD | 2014 YTD | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Acura
|
14,670 | 15,580 | -5.8% | 39,644 | 37,948 | 4.5% |
|
Alfa Romeo
|
73 | — | — | 217 | — | — |
|
Audi
|
17,102 | 14,246 | 20.0% | 40,098 | 35,228 | 13.8% |
|
BMW
|
34,310 | 32,107 | 6.9% | 78,492 | 72,377 | 8.4% |
|
Buick
|
20,526 | 20,428 | 0.5% | 50,497 | 52,898 | -4.5% |
|
Cadillac
|
13,756 | 14,765 | -6.8% | 37,175 | 39,588 | -6.1% |
|
Chevrolet
|
173,886 | 179,681 | -3.2% | 476,556 | 452,683 | 5.3% |
|
Chrysler
|
30,038 | 26,140 | 14.9% | 81,933 | 72,483 | 13.0% |
|
Dodge
|
46,049 | 60,575 | -24.0% | 123,511 | 145,224 | -15.0% |
|
Fiat
|
4,494 | 4,738 | -5.1% | 11,038 | 11,425 | -3.4% |
| Ford | 226,091 | 234,448 | -3.6% | 570,422 | 558,657 | 2.1% |
|
GMC
|
41,707 | 41,173 | 1.3% | 119,811 | 104,468 | 14.7% |
|
Honda
|
111,623 | 117,738 | -5.2% | 294,299 | 287,406 | 2.4% |
|
Hyundai
|
75,019 | 67,005 | 12.0% | 172,029 | 160,013 | 7.5% |
|
Infiniti
|
12,525 | 12,494 | 0.2% | 33,842 | 31,221 | 8.4% |
|
Jaguar
|
1,660 | 1,816 | -8.6% | 4336 | 4,715 | -8.0% |
|
Jeep
|
71,584 | 57,983 | 23.5% | 178,749 | 145,839 | 22.6% |
|
Kia
|
58,771 | 54,777 | 7.3% | 141,100 | 133,006 | 6.1% |
|
Land Rover
|
6,778 | 4,399 | 54.1% | 16,976 | 13,079 | 29.8% |
|
Lexus
|
31,054 | 28,593 | 8.6% | 77,180 | 65,085 | 18.6% |
|
Lincoln
|
8,695 | 8,969 | -3.1% | 21,478 | 21,603 | -0.6% |
|
Maserati
|
996 | 963 | 3.4% | 1,929 | 2,368 | -18.5% |
|
Mazda
|
32,123 | 34,903 | -8.0% | 78,044 | 78,057 | -0.02% |
|
Mercedes-Benz
|
29,921 | 27,401 | 9.2% | 78,156 | 72,614 | 7.6% |
|
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
|
2,379 | 1,915 | 24.2% | 5,559 | 4,624 | 20.2% |
|
Total Mercedes-Benz
|
32,300 | 29,316 | 10.2% | 83,715 | 77,238 | 8.4% |
|
Mini
|
5,829 | 3,655 | 59.5% | 12,777 | 8,657 | 47.6% |
|
Mitsubishi
|
9,764 | 8,996 | 8.5% | 23,790 | 19,840 | 19.9% |
|
Nissan
|
132,560 | 136,642 | -3.0% | 333,786 | 323,745 | 3.1% |
|
Porsche
|
4,291 | 3,808 | 12.7% | 11,430 | 10,136 | 12.8% |
|
Ram
|
45,023 | 44,479 | 1.2% | 110,406 | 100,993 | 9.3% |
|
Scion
|
4,424 | 5,917 | -25.2% | 11,978 | 14,457 | -17.1% |
|
Smart
|
583 | 775 | -24.8% | 1,533 | 2,237 | -31.5% |
|
Subaru
|
49,111 | 44,479 | 10.4% | 131,281 | 112,388 | 16.8% |
|
Toyota
|
190,481 | 180,838 | 5.3% | 486,462 | 441,455 | 10.2% |
|
Volkswagen
|
30,025 | 36,717 | -18.2% | 79,239 | 87,323 | -9.3% |
|
Volvo
|
5,916 | 5,915 | 0.02% | 13,722 | 13,698 | 0.2% |
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
|
BMW-Mini
|
40,139 | 35,762 | 12.2% | 91,269 | 81,034 | 12.6% |
|
FCA/Chrysler Group
|
197,261 | 193,915 | 1.7% | 505,854 | 475,964 | 6.3% |
|
Daimler
|
32,883 | 30,091 | 9.3% | 85,248 | 79,475 | 7.3% |
|
Ford Motor Company
|
234,786 | 243,417 | -3.5% | 591,900 | 580,260 | 2.0% |
|
General Motors
|
249,875 | 256,047 | -2.4% | 684,039 | 649,637 | 5.3% |
|
Honda Motor Company
|
126,293 | 133,318 | -5.3% | 333,943 | 325,354 | 2.6% |
|
Hyundai-Kia
|
133,790 | 121,782 | 9.9% | 313,129 | 293,019 | 6.9% |
|
Jaguar-Land Rover
|
8,438 | 6,215 | 35.8% | 21,312 | 17,794 | 19.8% |
|
Nissan Motor Company
|
145,085 | 149,136 | -2.7% | 367,628 | 354,966 | 3.6% |
|
Toyota Motor Corporation
|
225,959 | 215,348 | 4.9% | 575,620 | 520,997 | 10.5% |
|
Volkswagen Group *
|
57,638 | 55,051 | 4.7% | 131,279 | 132,870 | -1.2% |
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
|
Industry Total **
|
1,545,710
|
1,537,282
|
0.5%
|
3,954,946
|
3,744,021
|
5.6% |
* Volkswagen Group includes sales figures for Audi, Bentley, Porsche, and Volkswagen brands.
** Industry total takes into account Automotive News estimates for brands such as Tesla (1200 March units) and other low-volume, high-priced manufacturers.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.
Scion down 17% year to date, 25% month to month comparison.
Why Toyota, why? Why are you putting any more resources into this failed experiment???
Cadillac’s next advertising campaign is going to use a Bruce Springsteen song. “I’m going down, down, down down, whoa, I’m going down, down, down…”
How do smart dealers stay in business?
Volkswagen shall rule da vorld! Vee vill have the largest market share the vorld has ever zeen! It will be a glorious rule! A vorld of order! Of German engineering! One vorld! Vat? One moment…
Ja…ja….ja….nein. VAT?!? Dummkopf! Nein! Nein! Nein! Nein! Nein! VAT?!? Ja. Ja artz? Tut mir Leid. Ja sir. Ja sir. Nein sir. Nein. Ja sir. Ja.
I have been invormed that ve vill rule the vorld still, except North America, which can go zuck it as var as vee are concerned.
Of all the makers Honda impresses me the most. A more limited line up than the perceived competition (no BOF vehicles like Toyota, Nissan or Detroit), no pickup truck midsize or larger, limited line up compared to Toyota, Nissan, GM or Ford in particular. They continue to hold the line selling what buyers apparently want.
Scion is another one of those things I’d love some anonymous insider opinion about.
Makes you wonder if Mazda knew what they were getting into.
“What do you mean you’re going to sell it with a Scion badge?”
They probably had reasonable hopes of moving some units with the Toyota logo on the hood.
Scion is one of those niche brands. But what surprised me was that both Ford and GM had a small decline while Fiatsler actually saw a small increase in sales.
What I find enormously encouraging is that the projected SAAR is still over 17-million. That’s gotta be good for America’s economy. This really is a great time to buy a new car or truck, no matter what the buyer’s preference.
Mustang seemed to have had a good month at nearly 12.7k units soundly beating Camaro at just under 6k units and Challenger just under 7k units.
It would be interesting to see what portion of those Mustang sales were pent up demand vs. conquest sales.
VW’s problem remains old product (besides the new Golf/GTI and the ever-so-subtly refreshed Jetta everything in their lineup is what, 3-5 years old at this point?) and a lack of CUV/SUV products that aren’t positioned as luxury products. It will be interesting to see just how far VW’s sales can plunge before they get the refreshed Passat, new Tiguan, and new 3-row CUV out onto the market in the U.S.
VW’s reliability reputation, service technicians and dealers also stink. Even with good, reasonably priced product, those are tough obstacles to overcome. Yet somehow Audis are better products overall. Go figure.
“How do Smart dealers stay in business?”
The local ones are also Mercedes franchises. The lone Smart on display doesn’t take-up much space on the showroom floor (or in the back lot).
To be fair, this is the run-out for the current model, and the next model is a huge improvement. I’m sure dealers haven’t ordered much stock of the old car.
Honda impresses you? Clearly you’re not factoring the unimpressive Civic, Crosstour, the Ridgeline, the FCX, the Fit or the entire Acura brand. If you’re only talking about the Accord, the Odyssey and maybe even the CRV, then yeah, Honda’s real awesome.
And while Honda traditionally has done very well with its core models (not so much with its niche models like the Crosstour, Element, CRZ, etc.), even the Accord and Civic have seen falling sales as the competition has put pricing pressure on Honda.
Ok, I’ll ask the dumb question–why is March 2015 a shorter sales month than March 2014? I’d first thought that it was because of Sundays, since in most places Sundays aren’t counted as sales days; both March 2014 and 2015 have 5 Sundays.
What makes the difference in the sales months?
And, if March 2015 is a shorter month, does that also make the YTD figures suspect? (YTD covers from 1/1 of each year, right? Were either January or February also “short months” in either year?
When the last day of the month falls on a weekend, sales from the previous month carry through close of business on the first Monday.
So, March 2015 sales actually started on March 3rd vs March 1 last year.
March 2014 also had five selling weekends versus four selling weekends in March 2015.
None of this makes any difference unless you consider the average transaction price. Most brands are attempting to do what Cadillac is doing. I am not as surprised as some people are that Cadillac’s sales have declined. That was intentional. The average transaction price is considerably higher, and they are getting more affluent customers, and much fewer entry level customers. None of the information above matters without knowing if the overall price is increasing or not.