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Commercial Fleet Sales Fall 1.7% in February

Sales of vehicles to commercial fleets declined 1.7% in February, while sales to government agencies increased 2.4%. Sales to daily rental increased 5.3%.

Paul Clinton
Paul ClintonFormer Senior Web Editor
March 1, 2019
Commercial Fleet Sales Fall 1.7% in February

Commercial fleet sales lagged in February for a second straight month.

Photos courtesy of Ford, GM, FCA, and Nissan.

2 min to read


Sales of vehicles to commercial fleets from eight manufactures declined 1.7% to 58,785 in February compared to a year ago as sales of trucks, vans, and SUVs increased 5.6% to 125,655 while fleet sales of passenger cars increased 37.4% to 6,316. Truck-based sales provided 89.2% of the volume, according to Automotive Fleet data.

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For the year so far, sales to commercial fleets have declined 1.8% to 111,671. Truck-based sales have increased 3% to 99,836, while car sales have declined 29.4% to 11,835.

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The month follows a January that also saw a slight decline in commercial fleet sales of 1.9% to 52,886 vehicles from the prior year.

February sales to government fleets from four manufacturers increased 2.4% to 18,509. Truck-based sales increased 3% to 15,323 and car sales fell 0.4% to 3,186. For the year, government sales have increased 3.9% to 36,585. Truck sales have increased 3.8% to 30,316 and car sales have increased 4.9% to 6,294.

Daily rental sales from eight manufacturers increased 5.3% to 194,326 units. Truck-based sales fell 19.3% to 125,655 units, while car sales declined 13.4% to 68,671 units. Year-to-date sales have increased 9.8% to 339,305 vehicles with a 3.7% decline in car sales to 125,353 and a 19.7% increase in truck-based sales to 213,953 units.

For all three segments, fleet sales in February increased 3.5% from a year ago to 271,620 units with a 13.8% gain in truck sales to 193,447 and a 15.5% decline in car sales to 78,173. For the year so far, sales into the three fleet segments have increased 6.5% to 487,561. While truck-based sales have increased 12.8% to 344,105, car sales have fallen 6.2% to 143,481.

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