The first-quarter of 2019 came to a close last week, with new-vehicle sales in March coming in slightly stronger than anticipated as the quarter closed. Still, sales in Q1 2019 were down 2.7% versus year-ago levels. Had it not been for strong fleet numbers the results would have been worse. Retail sales were down 4% through the quarter, while fleet sales jumped 6%.

At the corporate level, more companies were down than up, with big drops at Mazda (-15.7%) and Nissan (-12.1%). Tesla’s sales success (+78.7%) can’t be ignored, but newly-introduced Model 3 sales in Q1 this year more than explain the growth. For Tesla, the year-on-year growth comparisons will only get harder through the remainder of the year.

  2019-Q1 2018-Q1 YOY
American Honda 369,787 362,491 2.0%
BMW Group 82,793 84,368 -1.9%
Daimler 78,878 86,981 -9.3%
Fiat Chrysler 498,425 514,769 -3.2%
Ford Motor Co 586,956 596,794 -1.6%
GM 677,814 715,794 -5.3%
Hyundai Kia 288,383 275,823 4.6%
Mazda 70,833 83,995 -15.7%
Mitsubishi 42,067 35,821 17.4%
Nissan NA 365,851 416,003 -12.1%
Subaru 156,754 149,703 4.7%
Tata 35,250 32,295 9.2%
Tesla Motors* 32,125 17,980 78.7%
Toyota Motor Co 543,716 572,033 -5.0%
Volvo NA 22,058 20,083 9.8%
VW 149,011 147,958 0.7%
Grand Total 4,000,701 4,112,891 -2.7%

*Tesla estimate from InsideEVs.com