March Sales Likely Down

March Sales Likely Down

Automakers begin reporting March sales figures on Tuesday, and, based on those numbers, new incentives could be announced on slow-selling models shortly thereafter.

Edmunds.com forecasts new vehicle sales (including fleet sales) in March to come in at around 1.48 million units, a 3 percent decrease from March 2006, which was last year’s biggest month. Despite the decrease this year, March still could be one of 2007’s best months. And the industry, according to Edmunds.com, is still on track for annual sales volumes of approximately 16.5 million vehicles, along the lines of what we saw in 2006.

The compact-car segment is predicted to be the industry’s hottest for the month.

Chrysler, Ford and General Motors are expected to post declines, putting their combined market share lower than last month or year-ago levels. Toyota and Nissan are predicted to report sales increases. Chrysler will report its sales on Tuesday instead of Wednesday, likely to coincide with the DaimlerChrysler annual meeting in Berlin.

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.