November Fleet Sales Increase Modestly

In November, 104,227 fleet units were sold, a 4% month-over-month increase compared to 100,182 in October but a drop of 21% from November 2020. With November in the books, the 2021 year-to-date total of combined large rental, commercial, and government purchases of new vehicles is approximately 1.5 million units, a 1% decrease from this time in 2020 when 1.52 million units were sold. Notably, though, fleet sales year to date are down 42% from the same time in 2019 when 2.6 million units were sold.

November Fleet Sales

Sales into rental decreased 55% year over year in November and are down 4% year to date through last month. Commercial sales were up 23% year over year in November and are up 12% year to date in 2021. Including an estimate for fleet deliveries into the dealer and manufacturer channel, we estimate that the pace of the remaining retail sales was down 15% year over year in November, leading to an estimated retail seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 11.2 million, which was down from 13.5 million last November and down from November 2019’s 13.7 million rate.

New-vehicle sales volume in November was down 17% year over year, with one more selling day compared to November 2020. Month over month, November new-vehicle sales were down 4%. The November SAAR came in at 12.9 million, a decrease from last year’s 15.9 million and November 2019’s 17.1 million rate.

Looking at automakers, year-over-year changes in fleet sales differed by manufacturer, ranging from a decline of 97% to an increase of 28%. Stellantis fleet sales increased the most year over year in November with more than 22,000 deliveries; Hyundai posted the largest decrease compared to November 2020.