Dodge Dart sales were up 56% in March, helping FCA to a 2% monthly increase in March.
Despite some difficult year-to-year comparisons, automakers continued to post strong sales in March as the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate exceeded 17.1 million units.
FCA US, the former Chrysler Group, posted a 2% increase compared with sales in March 2014 and the group’s best March sales since 2007 as its long streak of month-over-month sales increases reached 60. But Toyota posted a 4.9% sales increase tightening its grip on second place in U.S. sales just behind General Motors.
GM, Ford and Nissan posted modest decreases of between 2 and 3%. Ford’s retail sales were the best in nine years but its fleet sales dropped 13%. GM and Nissan also posted healthy truck sales, but were hit by the weakness in passenger car sales.
Sales of Nissan’s Versa, Altima and Maxima, which will be replaced later this year, dropped by double digits in March, while Nissan’s crossover vehicles, such as the Pathfinder, Rogue and Murano all more than held their own.
Nissan saw sales of its Altima, as well as the Maxima and Versa, fall by double digits in March.
The overall outlook for the industry remained very bright, noted Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of sales operations.
“As the economy gained steam throughout 2014, we knew 2015 would be a strong year for trucks,” McNeil said. “Higher demand dovetailed perfectly with the launches of our new full-size pickups and large SUVs. Low fuel prices and the successful launches of the Chevrolet Colorado and Trax made us even more bullish.”
Meanwhile, the Chrysler, Jeep and Ram Truck brands each posted year-over-year sales gains in March compared with the same month a year ago. The Jeep brand’s 23% increase was the largest sales gain of any FCA US brand during the month and its best monthly sales ever.
“March was a tough month, yet we were able to extend our year-over-year sales streak to an even 60-consecutive months,” said Reid Bigland, head of U.S. Sales.
“Five years of consecutive monthly year-over-year sales increases is a great symbol of FCA’s commitment to continuous improvement and a tremendous source of pride for our entire organization.”
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Amid the best auto industry and economic fundamentals in a decade, TrueCar estimates the ATP for new light vehicles was $32,201, up 2.1% over a year ago, while average incentive spending per unit shrank by $34 to $2,691. The ratio of incentive spending to ATP was 8.4%, contracting from 8.6% a year ago. Higher transaction prices in March generated $49 billion of revenue, up 1.3% from a year ago.
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“March was a solid fiscal year finish for some Japanese automakers. Subaru, Honda and Toyota should all post positive net revenue gains for the month compared to last year,” said Eric Lyman, vice president of industry insights for TrueCar.
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“We expect the industry to sustain a sales and revenue-growth mode. There’s pent up demand from the first quarter due to harsher than normal weather conditions, so the second quarter looks to be even more favorable,” he said.
Strong economic indicators signal continued consumer demand in the new vehicle sector. The National Association for Business Economics has predicted 3.1% growth of gross domestic product, the best performance in a decade. The Conference Board also said this exceeded expectations in its latest survey, rising from 98.8 to 101.3 in March.