U.S. Car Sales Dip 2%

Heavy sales incentives weren’t enough to prevent March car and light truck sales in the U.S. from slipping to 1.56 million units in March from 1.58 million in the same month last year, Autodata Corp. reports.

On an annualized basis, March sales dipped to 16.8 million from 16.7 million vehicles. Trucks and SUV/crossovers continued to gain share, climbing to a record 57% as sales expanded 6% to 943,900 units. Car sales dropped 12% to 612,000 units.

Demand last month for traditional domestic brands shrank 3% to 681,700 units. General Motors’ 2% gain to 256,000 units was offset by downturns at Ford (-7% to 235,900 units) and Chrysler (-5% to 186,800).

Combined sales of Asian brands dipped 1% to 731,200 units in March. Brands reporting sales gains were Nissan (+3% to 168,800 units), Honda (+9% to 137,200), Subaru (+11% to 54,900), Mazda (+5% to 24,500) and Mitsubishi (+6% to 11,800). Sales fell for Toyota (-2% to 215,200 vehicles), Hyundai (-8% to 69,300), Kia (-15% to 49,400)

Deliveries of European brands rose 3% to 143,000 last month, according to Autodata. Demand grew for Mercedes-Benz (+2% to 32,000), BMW (+3% to 31,000), Volkswagen (+3% to 27,600 units) and Audi (+2% to 18,700).