Sales into large commercial, rental, and government fleets among nine major vehicle manufacturers fell 8.9% in November compared to November 2022, according to Bobit/Automotive Fleet fleet sales data released Dec. 1.

That decrease was slightly below the 10% decline in October YOY. Monthly totals for three primary fleet sectors -- commercial, auto rental, and government -- dipped 8.9%, from 160,989 vehicles sold in November 2022 to 146,685 in November of this year.

Broken down by sector, the numbers from the three major Detroit-based auto manufacturers and the Asian Big 6 showed:

• Monthly commercial fleet sales fell 21.9%, from 75,755 vehicles in November 2022 to 59,189 in November 2023.

• Rental fleet sales rose slightly from 67,173 vehicles in November 2022 to 67,984 in November 2023, for an increase of 1.2%.

• In the government fleet sector, sales are up 8% at 19,512 vehicles sold last month compared to 18,061 in November 2022.

Overall, calendar year-to-date sales numbers for all fleet sectors combined show an increase of 29% from January-November 2022 to 1,977,943 in the same period this year. If present trends continue, total fleet sales volume will easily pass the 2 million mark by the end of this month.

“In November, the Detroit Three saw big drops in fleet sales compared to the previous year," said Cox Automotive senior economist Charlie Chesbrough in a separate Dec. 7 news release. "However, Toyota and Subaru also had milder declines, indicating a general trend of scaling back in fleet sales beyond the impacts of the recent strikes.”

Nissan had the largest increase in sales into fleet of large-volume automakers in November, while General Motors had the largest year-over-year decline, figures show. [Three of the Asian automakers exclude sales figures from their luxury vehicle sub-brands].

Fleet Sales Continue to Lag Retail in November

Including an estimate for fleet deliveries into dealer and manufacturer channels, the remaining retail sales were estimated to be up 10.2% from last year, leading to an estimated retail SAAR of 13 million, up 1.1 million from last year’s 11.9 million pace but down slightly from October’s 13.4 pace, Cox reported. Fleet market share was estimated to be 14.7%, down from last year’s 16.9% share.