Data Point
COVID-19 Puts Brakes on March Fleet Sales, Rental Units Down 34%
Thursday April 9, 2020
Article Highlights
- Year-over-year growth in fleet sales began a strong decline compared to the prior year as combined rental, commercial and government purchases of new vehicles were down 27.6% in March.
- Total fleet volume in March was 229,725, down significantly from 317,427 in March 2019.
- Toyota showed the only year-over-year growth at 13.2% compared to the prior year from a low base.
Year-over-year growth in fleet sales began a strong decline compared to the prior year as combined rental, commercial and government purchases of new vehicles were down 27.6% in March. Total fleet volume in March was 229,725, down significantly from 317,427 in March 2019. Rental units led the drop with a 34% decrease while commercial vehicle sales were down 17.7% year over year in March.
Retail sales of new vehicles were down 40.5% year over year in March, leading to a retail SAAR of 8.7 million, down from 13.8 million last March and down from February’s 13.3 million rate.
March total new-vehicle sales were down 37.9% year over year, with two less selling days compared to March 2019. The March SAAR came in at 11.4 million, a decrease from last year’s 17.3 million and down from February’s 16.7 million rate.
The key impact of COVID-19 is that business uncertainty and expectations of recession have led to rental car companies and small businesses slowing (or stopping in some cases) vehicle purchases. Like the retail market, demand has taken a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Looking at automakers, Toyota showed the only year-over-year fleet sales growth at 13.2% compared to the prior year from a low base. The remainder of manufacturers saw large year-over-year declines in fleet sales ranging from -17.3% to -42.6% due to the current impact of COVID-19. Nissan saw the largest fleet sales drop this month at -42.6%, according to our data analysis, compared to March 2019.