“March had a number of potential curveballs, including several OEMs looking to hit targets at the end of their financial year, steep discounting on certain models – particularly Electric Vehicles (EVs) – and pent-up demand from the fleet segment. In the end, sales were decent, but could have been even better. We are continuing to see signs that the segments that are performing well are generally those at the more affordable end of the spectrum, while costlier models are starting to see an easing in demand,” said David Oakley, Manager, Americas Sales Forecasts at GlobalData.

March 2024 at a Glance

• General Motors (GM) topped the sales rankings in March, beating Toyota Group by ~11,000 units. The two automakers have alternately held the top spot for the past few months. This was the first time that GM had led the market for two consecutive months since August and September of 2023.
• Having slipped just behind Ford in February by a slim margin, Toyota was the best-selling brand in March with184,000 units, compared to 165,000 units for Ford. Chevrolet was the third most popular brand with 145,000 units. The Toyota RAV4 was once again the number one model in March, a position it has occupied for six straight months, with the compact SUV selling 45,000 units. The Tesla Model Y is thought to have claimed second place at 41,000 units.
• The Ford F-150 did not place in the top five models.
• The Compact Non-Premium SUV segment continued its strong run of results in March with a 22.8% market share, matching the February outcome
• The Midsize Non-Premium SUV segment also saw a steady market share at 16.0%,
• The Large Pickup segment posted another disappointing month as its share fell to 11.9%, the lowest since May 2016.