- For March 2011, new light vehicle sales in the U.S. (including fleet) is expected to be 1,190,931 units, up 20 percent from March 2010 and up 12 percent from February 2011 (on an unadjusted basis)
- The March 2011 forecast translates into a Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate (SAAR) of 12.5 million new car sales, down significantly from 13.4 million in February 2011 and up from 11.7 million in March 2010
- Retail sales are up 20 percent compared to February 2011 and up 11 percent from March 2010
- Fleet and rental sales are expected to make up 20 percent of total industry sales in March 2011
- The industry average incentive spending per unit will be approximately $2,432 in March 2011, which represents a drop of six percent from February 2011 and down 13 percent from March 2010
- Used car sales is estimated to be 2,459,891, up 37 percent from February 2011 and up three percent from March 2010. The ratio of new to used is estimated to be 1:2 for March 2011
"There has been so much uncertainty in the market this month, with the disaster in Japan and the unrest in the Middle East, causing either higher gas prices or potential supply chain problems that have resulted in inventory shortages," said Jesse Toprak, VP of Industry Trends and Insight for TrueCar.com. "When there is unrest, consumers tend to take a wait and see approach to purchasing big ticket items."
Toprak continues, "Incentive spending in March is the lowest since January 2007, which had a negative impact on sales. GM and Toyota led the way, with double digit declines in spending this month."
