Commercial Fleet Sales Increase 4.8% in September

Sales of vehicles to commercial fleets from eight manufactures increased 4.8% to 53,544 in September as sales of trucks, vans, and SUVs increased 12.8% to 50,594 and provided more than 94% of the volume while fleet sales of passenger cars fell 52.8% to 2,950.

For the year so far, sales to commercial fleets have increased 9.3% to 567,132. Truck-based sales have increased 10.5% to 500,839, while car sales have been essentially flat, increasing 0.6% to 66,293, according to Automotive Fleet data.

Sales to government fleets from four manufacturers increased 2.4% to 20,109. Truck-based sales increased 13.4% to 17,471 and car sales declined 37.7% to 2,638. For the year, government sales have increased 1.9% to 201,320. Truck sales have increased 4.8% to 171,223 and car sales have fallen 10.5% to 33,928.

Daily rental sales from nine manufacturers were essentially flat, increasing 0.6% to 131,051 units. Truck-based sales increased 29.9% to 83,507 units, while car sales declined 27.9% to 47,544 units. Year-to-date sales have increased 7.3% to 1.31 million vehicles with a 14.1% decline in car sales to 500,497 and a 26.6% increase in truck-based sales to 812,552 units.

For all three segments, fleet sales in September increased 1.8% from a year ago to 204,704 units with a 21.7% gain in truck sales to 151,572 and a 30.5% decline in car sales to 53,132. For the year so far, sales into the three fleet segments have increased 7.92% to 2.08 million. While truck-based sales have increased 18% to 1.48 million, car sales have fallen 12.5% to 600,718.