U.S. Auto Sales Brand-By-Brand Results: March 2017 YTD

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain

March 2017’s U.S. auto sales volume dropped nearly 2 percent compared with March 2016, failing to live up to forecasts that expected March to be the best end to the first-quarter in nearly two decades.

Despite record volume at Nissan and Infiniti, continued growth at Subaru, meaningful gains at Buick, GMC, Dodge, Mitsubishi, and Ram, a third consecutive month of improvement at Mazda, and minor improvements at numerous other brands, auto sales fell below March 2016 levels because of declines at Ford, Toyota, and Fiat Chrysler. Hyundai and Kia combined for an 11-percent slide.

A third consecutive month of year-over-year decline for the industry suggests doom and gloom, as does the fact that inventories are ballooning and incentives are rising. Auto sales remain high, however, and only in comparison with 2016 — a banner year for the industry — do sales appear poor. Through the first-quarter of 2017, U.S. auto sales are down by less than 2 percent.

Auto BrandMarch 2017March 2016% Change2017 YTD2016 YTD% ChangeAcura 11,69614,852-21.2%31,76237,875-16.1%Alfa Romeo 555431,191%1,106158600%Audi 18,70518,3921.7%45,64741,9608.8%BMW 31,01530,0333.3%71,68270,6131.5%Buick 20,95718,20715.1%50,20554,287-7.5%Cadillac 12,86113,053-1.5%33,96235,633-4.6%Chevrolet 172,458176,283-2.2%471,723472,730-0.2%Chrysler 16,96925,373-33.1%47,07670,424-33.2%Dodge 50,07645,629 9.7%134,063140,916-4.9%Fiat 2,9223,085 -5.3%7,2318,115-10.9%Ford 225,341243,375-7.4%586,462616,682-4.9%Genesis 1,755——5,155——GMC 49,94844,58512.0%133,611121,04810.4%Honda 125,531123,3691.8%333,531319,9284.3%Hyundai 67,51075,310 -10.4%163,637173,330-5.6%Infiniti 18,26613,77532.6%43,56132,66033.4%Jaguar 4,9532,133 132%11,3764,997128%Jeep 67,98376,540 -11.2%188,743212,370-11.1%Kia 49,42958,279-15.2% 127,728146,321-12.7%Land Rover 7,9658,733 -8.8%19,87520,805-4.5%Lexus 27,93530,198-7.5%61,84574,221-16.7%Lincoln 9,5549,689-1.4%27,08324,9058.7%Maserati 1,31299731.6%3,2882,25046.1%Mazda 24,54923,3964.9%69,07164,6446.8%Mercedes-Benz ° 29,09228,164 3.3% 79,141 75,769 4.5% Mercedes-Benz Vans ° 2,8713,072 -6.5% 7,433 7,240 2.7% Total Mercedes-Benz ° 31,96331,2362.3% 86,57483,0094.3%Mini 4,9874,7624.7%10,25110,839-5.4%Mitsubishi 11,76611,078 6.2%29,14725,21215.6%Nissan 150,566149,7840.5%373,330217,76071.4%Porsche 4,4794,3233.6%12,71812,2383.9%Ram 51,74948,797 6.0%132,579126,1545.1%Smart 389479-18.9%1,0611,300-18.4%Subaru 54,87149,28511.3%144,250132,3979.0%Toyota †187,289189,644-1.2%470,766494,859-4.9%Volkswagen 27,63526,9142.7%76,29069,31410.1%Volvo 5,3566,857-21.9%13,47916,361-17.6%————— ——BMW-Mini 36,00234,7953.5%81,93381,4520.6%Fiat Chrysler Automobiles 190,254199,467-4.6%510,798558,137-8.5%DaimlerAG32,35231,7152.0%87,63584,3093.9%Ford Motor Co.234,895253,064-7.2%613,545641,587-4.4%General Motors 256,224252,1281.6%689,521683,6980.9%Honda Motor Co.137,227138,221-0.7%363,293 357,7032.1%Hyundai-Kia 118,694133,589-11.1%296,520 319,651-7.2%Jaguar-Land Rover 12,91810,86618.9%31,251 25,80221.1%Nissan Motor Co./Mitsubishi180,598174,6373.4%446,038425,4164.8%Toyota Motor Corp.215,224219,842-2.1%532,611 569,080-6.4%Volkswagen Group *51,06849,7482.7%135,207123,7749.2%———————Industry Total **1,554,9981,581,300 -1.7% 4,030,5934,094,065 -1.6%

Source: Manufacturers

* Volkswagen Group includes sales figures for Audi, Bentley, Porsche, and Volkswagen brands

° Mercedes-Benz USA releases sales figures for the Mercedes-Benz brand in the conventional sense, vans excluded, as well as totals for the Metris and Sprinter vans. The complete picture is included here.

† Toyota’s sales figures include those of Toyota’s discontinued Scion brand.

** Industry total takes into account Automotive News figures/estimates for brands such as Tesla (3,000 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.

Timothy Cain
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  • Jimmyy Jimmyy on Apr 04, 2017

    Another interesting point ... the Camry is now outselling the Fusion by nearly 2 to 1. This shows how, more and more, the buying public considers a car nothing more than a commodity and the Fusion will lose this comparison since the rear seat headroom is just not there. When you buy as a commodity, you care more about rear seat headroom than bling.

  • SuperCarEnthusiast SuperCarEnthusiast on Apr 04, 2017

    Surprise me is that Lexus and Volkswagen are same in numbers - 27K. BMW 31K, Mercedes at 29K. Mazda at 24K and Cadillac 12K and Land Rover at 8!

  • 1995 SC At least you can still get one. There isn't much for Ford folks to be happy about nowadays, but the existence of the Mustang and the fact that the lessons from back in the 90s when Ford tried to kill it and replace it with the then flavor of the day seem to have been learned (the only lessons they seem to remember) are a win not only for Ford folks but for car people in general. One day my Super Coupe will pop its headgaskets (I know it will...I read it on the Internet). I hope I will still be physically up to dropping the supercharged Terminator Cobra motor into it. in all seriousness, The Mustang is a.win for car guys.
  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
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