August Commercial Fleet Sales Surge 12.6%

Sales of vehicles to commercial fleets from eight manufactures increased 12.6% to 52,439 in August units with strong sales in the truck category, according to Automotive Fleet data.

During the month, sales of pickups, vans, and SUVs increased 13.3% to 47,794 compared to August of 2016. Sales of passenger cars increased 6.5% to 4,645.

For the year to date, sales to commercial fleets have slipped 0.5% to 467,969. Truck-based sales have increased 2.6% to 408,294, while car sales have fallen 17.7% to 59,675.

Sales to government fleets from five manufacturers fell 2.8% to 20,966 for the month with truck sales off 7.5% to 16,664 and car sales increasing 21.1% to 4,302. For the year, government sales have fallen 9.7% to 181,687 with car sales off 9.6% to 33,675 units and truck-based sales down 9.7% to 148,012.

Daily rental sales from nine manufacturers fell 11.2% to 100,836 units with a 5.6% increase to 48,587 units in car sales and a 22.7% decline to 52,249 units in truck-based sales. Year-to-date sales have fallen 16.3% to 1.09 million vehicles with a 22.3% decline to 516,376 in car sales and a 10.1% decline to 577,467 units in truck-based sales.

For all three segments, fleet sales in August fell 4.1% to 174,241 units with a 6.7% increase to 57,534 in car sales and an 8.7% decline to 116,707 units in truck-based sales. Year to date, the three fleet segments have fallen 11.9% to 1.74 million with a 21.3% decline in car sales to 609,726 and a 5.8% decline to 1.13 million in truck sales.

Originally posted on Automotive Fleet