U.S. Sales Roar Back in March to Best Volume Since 2007

U.S. sales soared above all expectations in March after two months of capped results due mostly to severe weather in the eastern half of the country.

After losing an estimated 100,000 units in January and February combined, and posting a 2-month seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15.2 million, sales surged to a 16.33 million SAAR in March, well above year-ago’s 15.3 million and the highest since February 2007’s 16.7 million.

The first-quarter SAAR ended at 15.7 million, compared to the prior quarter’s 15.6 million and January-March 2013’s 15.2 million.

March sales totaled 1.53 million units, equal to a daily selling rate of 58,871 over the month’s 26 selling days, and 9.7% above like-2013’s 53,684 (27 selling days). Better still, both the total and DSR were the highest since May 2007.

There likely was more to March’s upward spike than just a recoup of lost January-February sales. Third-party sources estimated that incentives increased from February, which was not surprising because dealer inventory entered March at a 9-year high and was in excess even when accounting for the aforementioned lost volume. Several economic indicators such as consumer confidence also moved higher.

The CUV segment group continued to garner record share.

CUV deliveries increased 18.0% over year-ago, and market share of 26.7% was the highest ever for the month. Share for January-March of 27.4% was any-quarter record. Each CUV segment except Large CUVs recorded a year-over-year increase. Big gains were posted by vehicles new or redesigned over the past two model years, such as the Hyundai Santa Fe, Jeep Cherokee, Nissan Rogue, Subaru Forester and Toyota Highlander and RAV-4. Older models including the Dodge Journey, Ford Flex and Jeep Compass and Patriot also surged in March.

Luxury CUVs from Acura, Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche also recorded hefty gains.

After decelerating in the previous three months, large pickups regained strength with a year-over-year gain of 14.0% in March. Share climbed to 11.7% from year-ago’s 11.3% as the GMC Sierra, Ram pickup and Toyota Tundra posted solid increases ranging from 27% to 30%.

Despite a 19.3% decline in car deliveries, hampered by sparse inventory of its midsize models due to the recent termination of the Dodge Avenger and production ramp-up of the redesigned.

Chrysler 200, Fiat-Chrysler pulled in a sizable 16.7% increase in total sales. Overall, its light trucks surged 37.2% above year-ago with its Jeep brand leading the way on a 52.6% increase. Jeep’s 3.8% share in March was one of its highest ever. Fiat-Chrysler’s share jumped to 12.6% from 11.8% a year ago.

Oddly, General Motors did not partake in last month’s bounty relative to other automakers.

GM’s March deliveries rose a respectable 8.1% from year-ago, but its share fell to one of its lowest ever for any month to 16.7%. The share decline could be the result of fallout from the widely publicized recalls that occurred in March, and subsequent congressional investigations.

The dip also could have been payback of sorts from February when GM’s market penetration surged to 18.7% from 17.0% in January. Averaged out, GM’s first-quarter share was 17.4% vs. like-2013’s 18.1%

Besides Fiat-Chrysler, Nissan also posted double-digit gains and its share increased to 9.7%, placing it ahead of Honda for the second consecutive month.

Ford, Honda and Toyota also reported higher volumes from March 2013, but market share for each declined.

A heavy mix of CUVs and luxury models led the rest of the industry to a combined increase in March of 11.7% over year-ago, and combined share nudged up to 22.6% from like-2013’s 22.2%. Leaders in that group included BMW, Daimler, Jaguar-Land Rover, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Subaru, Tesla and Volvo.

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