Overall October Fleet Sales Down but Improve Month-Over-Month

Commercial fleet sales from nine manufacturers totaled 55,252 in October 2020, representing a 12.6% overall decrease when compared to the same time last year, though these declines were impacted by a 49.5% drop for sedans, which represents the smallest segment volume for commercial fleets.

Total fleet sales for the month — which is comprised of commercial, rental, and government sales — came in at 132,560, which represented a 27.2% drop from the same time last year, and improvement over the 34.2% decline in September. Overall declines continue to be driven by the significant reduction in the rental market.

Month-over-month declines in commercial fleet sales seen during the pandemic have become less significant. Though commercial truck and SUV sales are still down by 9.4%, this is an improvement over the more notable declines witnessed during the Summer. 

Overall rental sales are at negative 43.3%, an improvement over the 61.9% drop in September.

Through October 2020, rental fleet car sales fell by 27.8% totaling 25,041 units. Truck and SUV segment sales decreased 51.6% at 31,553 units. Combined, rental fleet sales totaled 56,594 for the month of October.

Meanwhile, government fleets continued overall recovery in October, despite a decline in car sales. There were 1,479 cars sold to government fleets, representing the 37.3%% decline. However, this was offset by a 14.5% increase in truck and SUV sales. Combined, truck, SUV, and car vehicle sales for government fleets amounted to 20,714 units, which reflected a 8.1% month-over-month increase.

Year-to-date, as of September 2020, overall fleet sales from nine manufacturers total 1,254,461, 43.2% less on a year-over-year basis, indicating there is still a long road to recovery for 2020.

So far car sales are down 59% year-to-date and truck and SUV segment sales are down 37% year-to-date, both of which are improvements over September and are still impacted heavily by declines of the rental market.

Year-to-date, as of October 2020, overall fleet sales from nine manufacturers total 1,387,021, 41.9% less on a year-over-year basis, but an improvement over the previous two reports.