Sales of vehicles to commercial fleets from eight manufactures increased 10.1% to 72,344 in March as sales of trucks, vans, and SUVs increased 10.4% to 62,419 and passenger car sales increased 8% to 9,925 units compared to a year ago, according to Automotive Fleet data.

For the first quarter, sales to commercial fleets have increased 11.1% to 186,925. Truck-based sales have increased 11.2% to 159,889, and car sales have increased 10% to 27,036.

Sales to government fleets from five manufacturers declined 13.7% to 21,840 with truck-based sales declining 13.9% to 18,182 and car sales falling 12.6% to 3,658. For the year, government sales fell 8.5% to 57,050 for the month with truck sales decreasing 8.9% to 47,391 and car sales falling 6.7% to 9,659.

Daily rental sales from the nine manufacturers increased 11.5% to 209,718 units with a 32.7% increase in truck sales to 123,724 units and a 9.3% decline in car sales to 85,994 units. Year-to-date sales have increased 2.8% to 518,969 vehicles with a 10.8% decline in car sales to 216,979 and a 15.5% increase in truck-based sales to 301,990 units.

For all three segments, fleet sales in March increased 8.9% from a year ago to 303,902 units with a 19.6% gain to 204,325 in truck sales and an 8% decline to 99,577 in car sales.

Year to date, the three fleet segments have increased 3.7% to 762,944. While truck-based sales have increased 11.4% to 509,270, car sales have fallen 8.8% to 253,674.