U.S. fleet sales for August were strong and reached levels for the month not seen since 2019.
All large manufacturers showed gains in fleet over last year, with combined sales into large rental, commercial, and government fleets improving.
With production levels returning to normal and retail demand only modestly improved, sales to fleet channels have increased dramatically.
Major automakers appear to be preemptively pulling the fleet lever to stymie any significant increase in retail inventory.
The movement of new vehicles into fleet increases at a consecutive monthly pace with supply freeing up after several years of constraints, according to Bobit fleet data.
Sales into rental fleets were up 96% year over year, sales into commercial fleets were up 31%, and sales into government fleets were up 65%.
GM has overtaken Ford as the leader in the commercial channel, Ford remains on top in government fleet sales, while Stellantis’ share dropped.
Some manufacturers may be shifting more of their sales to fleet as they see retail sales soften due to consumer economic concerns.
If retail consumers avoid buying new vehicles because of high inflation and interest rates, then OEMs may route more of them into fleet and lease channels.
Combined sales into large rental, commercial, and government fleets were up 14.6% year over year in August.
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