March car sales: Out like a lion, sales numbers surge

Apr 2, 2010 2:24 PM

It seems that the March car sales followed like the weather and went out like a lion compared to the first few months of the year. Aided by some aggressive incentives to drum up sales, all major automakers, except for Chrysler, ended the month higher compared to March 2009. Overall, the battle for the top sales spot went to General Motors with total combined sales of 188,546 for all brands. Toyota sold 186,863 vehicles and Ford 184,783. Here are the details:

Chrysler continues to struggle in sales and keep relatively quiet about upcoming products (see Chrysler remains a sleeping giant). They posted a decrease of 5 percent over the previous year, but were up 10 percent over last month. The Sebring and Town & Country both had an improvement in sales.

Ford’s sales were similar to last month with a 43 percent increase over the year prior. March had the highest monthly sales increase since February 1984. Ford Fusion, Focus, Escape, and Taurus were strong sellers.

GM’s core brands (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC) were up 43 percent over March 2009 and overall sales combining all brands were 20 percent higher. The Buick LaCrosse, GMC Terrain, and Chevrolet Equinox all had large gains--so much so that GM recently announced they are adding additional production capacity to meet the demand for the Terrain and Equinox.

Honda posted gains of almost 17 percent over last March, led by the Accord family sedan. All Honda trucks had an increase in sales with the CR-V, Pilot, and outgoing Odyssey posting double-digit increases.

Hyundai continues to be on a roll posting an all-time sales record for the month of March and for the first quarter. The new Sonata and Tucson helped the company increase 15 percent over the previous year. The new offerings announced at the New York auto show of the Sonata hybrid and turbo for 2011, as well as Equus luxury sedan, will likely keep the momentum going.

Combined Nissan and Infiniti sales were up over 43 percent compared to March 2009. The Versa, Rogue, and new Infiniti M enjoyed strong increases.

Subaru continues to break sales records posting its best first quarter sales and March sales ever. The company saw a 46 percent increase over March 2009. The new Legacy and Outback continue to be the driving force behind the sales surge. The wide-body 2011 WRX and returning WRX STi in sedan form should help focus enthusiast attention on the brand.

Toyota, aided by aggressive sales incentives and a huge PR push to bring back customers after their high-profile recall drama earlier this year, they ended the month of March up 35 percent. The previously recalled models all showed strong gains with a huge increase of 108 percent for the RAV4 and more modest double-digit increases for the Camry, Corolla, and Prius. The Camry jumped back in to the top spot with monthly sales of 36,251. It is second only to the Ford F-Series, which continues to be the top-selling vehicle line in America.

See what the future products are coming from these manufacturers in our 2010 New York auto show coverage.

—Liza Barth