Led by the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado and Ram pickups, U.S. light vehicle sales in April increased by 3.6% over last April at 1,506,977. It was a healthy 5.5% increase compared to March 2016. Car sales dropped more than 5% year-over-year to 630,000; Truck sales grew by more than 11% at 877,000. AutoData says that the seasonally adjusted annual rate, aka SAAR in industry jargon, was 17.42 million compared to 16.75 million light vehicles in April 2015. Not adjusted for business days, sales for all brands for the year were up 3.4%, an indicator the all-time U.S. sales record set in 2015 might be surpassed this year.
As has become a long standing trend, the Detroit Three lunched off trucks, but the other seven of the Top Ten sellers were from offshore brands. International auto sales in the U.S. totaled 818,255 in April, down from 877,183 units in March, but up from 777,510 units a year ago.
The industry had its strongest April in more than 10 years, possibly a best-ever month.” said Bill Fay, Toyota division group vice president and general manager. “Toyota division enjoyed its sixth consecutive month of best-ever light truck sales, helped by record Highlander, RAV4 and 4Runner sales.”
Asian brands took 45.7% of April’s auto market, down from 46.3% in March. This was equal to the market share of the Detroit Three, though. Asian nameplate brands sold 688,785 vehicles last month, led by Honda and Nissan who both reported best-ever April sales.
VW and BMW had Sharp Declines
European brands sold 129,470 vehicles for an 8.6% share. European market share dropped from 8.7% in March; down from 9.2% in April 2015. Not surprisingly dirty diesel Volkswagen’s sales declined 9.7%.
More surprising to AutoInformed is that BMW slipped badly. BMW brand sales decreased -7.4 % at 25,000 (Mercedes-Benz was flat at 32,000); Mini brand sales decreased -12.4% to 5,000.
“April is always a volatile month for BMW with model changeover taking place in some of our very popular X models, and the improving consumer confidence that typically follows the arrival of Spring still developing,” said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America.
Top Ten Jockeying
The Top Ten seller list saw some churning. In fourth, Honda Civic took over the top-selling car spot the long-time holder, Toyota Camry. It took fifth place for the month. Sales for the compact Civic were up 24.5% compared to last April.
In sixth place, the Toyota Corolla followed the Camry. Seventh place was held by the Honda Accord. Toyota’s RAV4 took eighth. The Honda CR-V crossover took ninth place, followed by the Nissan Altima in tenth.
