Sales of vehicles to commercial fleets from nine manufactures increased 11.1% to 79,173 in March compared to a year ago as sales of trucks, vans, and SUVs increased 13.1% to 69,760 while fleet sales of passenger cars fell 1.6% to 9,413. Truck-based sales provided 88.1% of the volume, according to Automotive Fleet data.

For the year so far, sales to commercial fleets have increased 5% to 194,220. Truck-based sales have increased 8.4% to 171,922, while car sales have declined 15.3% to 22,298.

March saw a reversal of February in which fleet sales declined 1.7% and year-to-date sales fell 1.8%.

March sales to government fleets from four manufacturers increased 7.3% to 23,445. Truck-based sales increased 8.9% to 19,800 and car sales fell 0.4% to 3,645. For the year, government sales have increased 5.2% to 60,030. Truck sales have increased 5.7% to 50,091 and car sales have increased 2.9% to 9,939.

Daily rental sales from nine manufacturers increased 5.3% to 214,808 units. Truck-based sales increased 9.8% to 136,650 units, while car sales declined 9.5% to 78,158 units. Year-to-date sales have increased 6.4% to 554,194 vehicles with a 6.5% decline in car sales to 203,533 and a 15.6% increase in truck-based sales to 350,661 units.

For all three segments, fleet sales in March increased 4.5% from a year ago to 317,426 units with a 10.7% gain in truck sales to 226,210 and an 8.4% decline in car sales to 91,216. For the year so far, sales into the three fleet segments have increased 6% to 808,444. While truck-based sales have increased 12.8% to 572,674, car sales have fallen 7.1% to 235,770.