Fleet Sales Sink in November

Sales of vehicles from nine manufacturers to commercial fleets fell 9.9% to 54,384 in November after enjoying several robust months of sales but remain the strongest fleet segment with an 8.7% increase year to date.

In November, sales of cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs were all lower than an October that saw double-digit growth. Sales of cars fell 24.1% to 5,836, while sales of trucks, vans and SUVs fell 7.8% to 48,548, according to Automotive Fleet data.

For the year, commercial sales have increased 8.7% to 734,012 on the strength of the truck category, which is 11.1% higher despite car sales falling 9.6% to 70,923.

Sales to government agencies and daily rental companies were lower again.

Sales to government fleets from five manufacturers fell 12.3% to 17,888 for the month. Truck-based sales fell 4.2% to 15,874, while car sales declined 47.2% to 2,014. Year to date sales have fallen 5.7% (to 232,761) with trucks down 3.2% (199,486) and cars down 18.6% (33,275).

Sales into daily rental declined 8.6% (to 112,521) in November with car sales down 19.5% (to 41,116) and truck category sales down 0.8% (to 71,405). For the year, sales are 2.3% higher (1.6 million) with trucks up 5.8% to 1 million and cars down 3.1% to 605,173.

Fleet sales in the three segments fell 9.3% to 184,793 in November with a 3.8% decline in the truck category (135,827) and a 21.8% decline in car sales (48,966). Through 11 months, fleet sales have increased 3.2% over 2018 to 2.57 million. Truck, van, and SUV sales are 6.6% higher to 1.86 million, while car sales are 4.6% lower to 709,371.

Originally posted on Automotive Fleet