Six of the top ten vehicles sold in the U.S. in March were from international brands.
With small cars leading a rise in U.S. March Sales, it is not surprising that the market share of offshore brands climbed during March, with Asian and European brands together occupying 56.3% of the U.S. auto market, up from the 54.9% in February.
The share for foreign automakers was the largest for offshore brands since last March when an earthquake and tsunami crippled Japanese automaker and supplier production. They accounted for 791,169 units sold, up from 631,152 in February.
Asian brands sold 668,385 vehicles, earning a 47.6% share of the U.S. auto market. They were up 10.5% over last March and 12.8% for the year-to-date. European nameplates were even 8.7% of the market. They sold 122,784 units and were up 20.9% over last March. For the year-to-date, they are up 25.1%. Detroit Three automakers sold 643,605 vehicles in March, 43.7% of the market. (See Chrysler, Ford and GM U.S. March Sales Continue Rebound) Overall U.S. sales, including Detroit Three rose 12.7% over March 2011 and 22% over last month.
Six of the top ten vehicles were international brands. At number six, the Toyota Prius made its strongest showing in history with sales of 28,711 units – a 54.3% increase over March 2011. (Combined sales of the new Prius v and the original Prius liftback have set new retail sales records every month from November through March, taking a 52% share of the entire hybrid market.) As the top selling car in America, the newly revised Toyota Camry continued to sit in second place behind the Ford F-Series pickup truck; sales for the sedan were up 35.3% over March 2011. The aging Nissan Altima – new one next fall – also remained strong at Number Three as Altima sales were up 27.1%. The new Honda CR-V held the fifth position – with sales up 54.3% – while the Toyota Corolla/Matrix and Honda Civic took the ninth and tenth spots, respectively.
“Consumer confidence is at its highest measured point since February 2011,” said American International Automobile Dealer Assn President Cody Lusk.
In spite of rising gasoline prices, the SUV/crossover segment still sold 385,088 vehicles and was up 5.9% during March. The mid-size car segment sold 389,566 vehicles and was up 21.6% – more than all other segments. Sales of small cars rose 14.3% over last March and 19.9% of the year-to-date. The luxury car segment was up 10.2% and sold 96,027 vehicles. In contrast, the large car segment continued to decline dramatically, selling just 705 units and down 91.7% over last March.
