March Sales Jump to 12.4 Million Rate; Toyota Up 80%, Edmunds.com Forecasts
By Michelle Krebs March 25, 2010Hefty incentives, spurred by Toyota with others following, are forecasted to send the 
Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of vehicle sales to 12.4 million this month from February's 10.3 million, according to Edmunds.com.
Toyota will get a big bang for its incentives bucks with sales up 80 percent from February, Edmunds.com forecasts. And Ford is expected to outsell GM again in March as it did in February.
"Although this SAAR sounds promising, it's too early to wave the flag and say that the economy has turned the corner," Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl said. "Incentives drove sales this month, but those incentives were defensive moves by Toyota and its competitors, and are unlikely to last because inventories are simply not high enough to justify them."
Toyota kicked off March with a host of incentives, including the always-popular zero-percent financing for up to 72 months and discounted leases. Others followed suit.
"What a difference a month makes for Toyota, whose sales climbed 80 percent since February thanks to generous incentives and more balanced headlines," observed Jessica Caldwell, director of Industry Analysis for Edmunds.com. "At this point, Toyota seems to be making large strides in reinstating its good name and appealing to car-shoppers."
By the Numbers
This month's new vehicle sales (including fleet sales) are expected to be 1,119,700 units, a 30.9 percent increase from March 2009 and a 43.9 percent increase from February 2010, according to Edmunds.com.
The combined monthly U.S. market share for Chrysler, Ford and GM is estimated to be 44 percent in March 2010, down from 45.1 percent in March 2009 and down from 47.1 percent in February 2010.
Company-by-company, Edmunds.com predicts the following sales and market share for March:
GM will sell 197,200 vehicles, up 27 percent from March 2009 and up 39.3 percent from February. GM's market share is expected to be 17.6 percent, down from 18.2 percent in March 2009 and down from 18.2 percent in February.
Ford will sell 201,100 vehicles, up 55.5 percent from March 2009 and up 43.3 percent from February for a market share of 18.0 percent, up from 15.1 percent in March 2009 and flat from 18 percent in February.
Toyota will sell 182,100 vehicles, up 37.1 percent from March 2009 and up 82.0 percent from February. Toyota's market share is expected to be 16.3 percent, up from 15.5 percent in March 2009 and up from 12.9 percent in February.
Honda will sell 107,400 vehicles, up 21.5 percent from March 2009 and up 33.1 percent from February. Honda's market share is expected to be 9.6 percent, down from 10.3 percent in March 2009 and down from 10.4 percent in February.
Nissan will sell 99,100 vehicles, up 48.7 percent from March 2009 and up 41.2 percent from February 2010. Nissan's market share is expected to be 8.9 percent, up from 7.8 percent in March 2009 and down from 9.0 percent in February.
Chrysler will sell 94,100 vehicles, down 6.5 percent from March 2009 and up 11.7 percent from February for a market share of 8.4 percent, down from 11.8 percent in March 2009 and down from 10.8 percent as in February.
Hyundai (including Kia) will sell 91,600 vehicles, up 40 percent from March 2009 and up 57.8 percent from February. Hyundai's market share is expected to be 8.2 percent, up from 7.7 percent in March 2009 and up from 7.5 percent in February.
March 2010 had 26 selling days, one more than last March 2009. When adjusted for this difference, sales increased 25.9 percent from March 2009. (The chart below sets forth other unadjusted and adjusted comparisons.)
|
|
Change from March 2009 (Adjusted for less selling days) |
Change from March 2009 (Unadjusted for less selling days) |
Change from February 2010 (Unadjusted for more selling days) |
|
Chrysler (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep) |
-10.1% |
-6.5% |
11.7% |
|
Ford (Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo) |
49.5% |
55.5% |
43.3% |
|
GM (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn) |
22.1% |
27.0% |
39.3% |
|
Honda (Acura, Honda) |
16.8% |
21.5% |
33.1% |
|
Hyundai (Hyundai, Kia) |
34.6% |
40.0% |
57.8% |
|
Nissan (Infiniti, Nissan) |
43.0% |
48.7% |
41.2% |
|
Toyota (Lexus, Scion, Toyota) |
31.8% |
37.1% |
82.0% |
|
Industry Total |
25.9% |
30.9% |
43.9% |
LEAVE A COMMENT
Let me get this right - Toyota is being hailed for doing so well because they used large incentives. hey beat the average by only 6%. Hyundai, Nissan and Ford all grew faster. So they were the fourth fastest. Wow - not very good for their massive incentives which people used to decry GM for. Let see how sales cope when they remove the incentives.
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