U.S. Auto Market Sees Double-Digit Decline in March

The challenging global landscape fueled volatility and uncertainty in the U.S. light-duty vehicle market last March, resulting in lower sales for the vast majority of its participants both for the month in question and for the quarter.

Preliminary estimates from GlobalData put the volume of deliveries at 1.39 million units, which, according to its own records, represents a 14% drop compared to March of last year.

The analytics firm estimates that retail sales fell by 16%, while fleet sales decreased by 2.3%.

Cox Automotive, for its part, puts the figure for the third month of the year at 1.4 million vehicles, which translates to a decline of -12%, according to its calculations.

However, it should be noted that these results are largely due to an unusual sales surge recorded a year ago, driven by the implementation of tariffs on imported vehicles.

The persistent winter weather in certain regions of the neighboring country, the rise in the average price of vehicles—which is already hovering near record levels—and the steady increase in the cost of gasoline also contributed to the result, according to the consensus among analysts.

On the Decline

Among the automakers most affected by this downward trend is Mazda, whose March sales plummeted by 26% to 32,000 units, while first-quarter results were 14.4% lower than a year ago, with a total of 94,473 vehicles.

Also reporting declining results, though at a single-digit rate, is General Motors, which recorded a quarterly drop of 9.7% with the delivery of nearly 626,500 light vehicles.

Although this was the second consecutive quarter of negative performance for the Detroit-based automaker, its executives expressed optimism looking ahead to the spring season, a crucial period for sales.

“We are well-positioned for the future thanks to our operational discipline and the attractive value we offer, from affordable SUVs to high-end vehicles and trucks,” said Duncan Aldred, president of GM North America.

Ford showed a similar performance, which it attributed largely to low inventories of its popular F-Series pickups, whose production has been seriously affected by the aluminum shortage. The Blue Oval reported an 8.8% drop in quarterly sales, with 457,000 units delivered.

However, it noted that sales of the Bronco Sport achieved the best quarterly result since its launch, with more than 35,000 SUVs sold, driven largely by strong demand for the more affordable version, which rebounded by 10.3%.

Similarly, the company highlighted the delivery of more than 17,000 hybrid Mavericks, making it the most popular pickup with this type of powertrain in the U.S. market.

Japan’s Nissan recorded a 7.5% decline in its quarterly results, delivering 247,000 light vehicles. The automaker reported a 7.7% drop in its main brand and a 3.2% decline in its luxury division, Infiniti.