After hitting a full-year sales record of 17.5 million vehicles in 2015 and enjoying a strong first two months of 2016, the annualized selling rate hit a 13-month low of 16.56 million units in March.
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USA consumers bought just over 1.5 million vehicles in April, nudging out the old record set in April of 2005, according to Kelley Blue Book.
Ram brand trucks, with their high profit margins, racked up a 12 per cent sales gain, their best April since 2005.
Sales by the Lincoln brand surged 20 percent, with the MKC up more than 50 percent and the MKX almost doubling.
Toyota’s U.S. sales rose 3.8 per cent in April compared with the year-ago period, slightly beating estimates.
The company has been increasing production of SUVs and pickups to meet consumer demand.
The U.S. auto market’s boom times can’t last forever, but auto makers appear to have at least a little something left in the tank. Sales of vehicle heavy brands-Chrysler and Fiat-were down.
Other luxury brands also had weak results in April, especially for cars. Ford posted record SUV sales, while Toyota broke a record for SUV and truck sales.
Overall US sales results have been better than Edmunds.com projections, with the notable exceptions of GM and Volkswagen, whose declines were steeper than expected. Driving the gain was a 22 per cent jump in Explorer SUV sales from a year ago. VW sales fell nearly 10 per cent as its emissions-cheating scandal continued.
But there are worrying trends for the industry. Sales of the Chrysler 200 midsize vehicle tumbled 60 percent to about 7,600. Sales advanced 17 per cent to 84,298 vehicles, the best April performance yet.
Although sales of sedans are dropping, Lindland doesn’t see big price wars developing because many auto factories can now switch easily from cars to SUVs.
John Humphrey, senior vice-president of J.D. Power, said consumers likely spent more on new cars and trucks than any other April on record.
APPHOTO NYBZ237: FILE – In this Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014, file photo, Mike Johnson, a sales manager at a local Honda auto dealership, walks past a row of Honda CRVs in Tempe, Ariz.
Put simply, Americans are losing interest in most small vehicles, preferring the roomier design and decent fuel economy of crossovers, SUVs and trucks.
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Honda clocked a new April sales record, pushing sales up 14.4 per cent. J.D. Power expected April sales to individual buyers to rise 4 percent, while sales to fleets were expected to jump 8.7 percent. Automakers do benefit from fleet sales, which are profitable and offer a chance to get potential customers behind the wheel. But slowing growth, the shift away from cars and rising fleet sales “pose significant challenges to manufacturers as they compete in the marketplace”.
