October Fleet Sales Decline as YTD Momentum Steadies

Sales into large commercial, rental, and government fleets among nine major auto manufacturers fell 10% in October compared to October 2022, according to Bobit fleet sales data released Nov. 2.

Monthly totals among the three fleet sectors declined from 148,721 vehicle sales in October 2022 to 133,206 vehicles sold last month.

Year-to-date sales, however, still show a one-third overall increase to 1,831,258 fleet vehicles sold through October 2023 compared to 1,371,858 in the same period last year.

Monthly YOY Sales By Fleet Sector

• Monthly total commercial fleet sales were down by 21%, from 81,083 vehicles in October 2022 to 64,045 this October.
• In rental fleets, monthly sales were down 7.1%, with 47,482 vehicles last month versus 51,098 in October 2022.
• Government sector fleet sales rose by 31% in October to 21,679 vehicles from 16,540 in October 2022.

Calendar YTD Sales By Fleet Sector

• Looking at calendar year 2023 through October, commercial fleet sales are up 9% to 759,287 vehicles, compared to 696,470 in the same period last year.
• Rental fleets show the strongest year-to-date YOY growth at 64%, reaching 841,043 vehicles so far this year compared to 513,169 through October 2022.
• The government fleet sales showed similar strength, growing 42.4% from 162,219 in the first 10 months of 2022 to 230,928 for the same period this year.

“Fleet sales experienced the first drop this year, as a result of the UAW strike that took down a significant portion of the Detroit Three volume," said Cox Automotive senior economist Charlie Chesbrough in a Nov. 7 news release. "However, it seems that retail sales picked up slightly. Our shopping data suggests some buyers came into the market early in October as the strike was getting underway, hopeful to buy before inventories dried up and prices climbed further.”

Including an estimate for fleet deliveries into dealer and manufacturer channels, the remaining retail sales were estimated to be up 3.3%, leading to an estimated retail seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 13.4 million, up 0.9 million from last year’s 12.5 million pace, and up 0.5 million from last month’s 12.9 million pace, according to Cox Automotive. The fleet market share was estimated to be 13.5% in October, down from last year’s 15% share and down 0.3% from September’s 13.8% market share, the company reported in its analysis.