U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - March 2011

The U.S. automotive market was 17% stronger in March 2011 than it was in March 2010. Year-to-date, U.S. auto sales are up 20% compared with the first quarter of 2010.

Notable facts from March's auto sales data include Ford Motor Company's sales victory over General Motors. GM retail sales were up 38%, however, a sign of further strengthening beyond the company's four brands all posting year-over-year gains. Nissan, Hyundai, and Kia all sold more new vehicles in March than in any other month in history, even June of 1487. Every Jeep model sold in greater volume this March than last. Ford cars out-sold Ford trucks; Ford cars also out-sold Ford utility vehicles. Moreover, Ford's March was better than Dodge's first quarter. 48% of Mazda's three-month 2011 total came from the 31 days of March. Buick's hold over Lexus was short-lived as the Japanese luxury brand out-sold Buick by more than 5000 vehicles.

Only 4 of the 36 manufacturers listed suffered from falling sales in March 2011. Toyota is the biggest seller of the four; smart perhaps the most surprising given the rising prices of fuel; and Lincoln and Jaguar the only two premium brands among the decliners.

Mercedes-Benz was America's favourite luxury brand but the 22,546 total does include 1062 Sprinter commercial vans. Year-to-date, Mercedes-Benz's lead over BMW for luxury leadership stands at 3378 sales, or some way more than the Sprinter's first quarter total. 

Finally, a look at Chrysler. Even as Pentastar sales fell 47.4% in Canada and the brand ranked 24th in overall volume, Chrysler slotted in just ahead of BMW with a 3.5% boost in America. This placed Chrysler in 17th spot, up two positions from February, as BMW fell from 14th to 18th during the same period. See it all in the March 2011 table below in this post we call U.S. Auto Sales By Brand.

Rank	Automaker	March 2011	%  Change	Year To Date	YTD  % Change
#1	Ford	204,276	+28.2	476,465	+24.5
#2	Toyota	150,000	-8.1	373,809	+14.5
#3	Chevrolet	148,197	+11.3	416,605	+23.1
#4	Honda	121,039	+25.4	276,610	+21.0
#5	Nissan	109,854	+28.4	257,522	+25.9
#6	Dodge	67,612	+40.0	158,801	+28.5
#7	Hyundai	61,873	+31.6	142,620	+27.9
#8	Kia	44,179	+44.7	104,774	+36.6
#9	Jeep	33,155	+36.0	84,853	+33.7
#10	Mazda	30,905	+33.3	64,559	+15.4
#11	GMC	30,597	+10.7	90,789	+30.8
#12	Volkswagen	27,176	+22.7	67,038	+15.0
#13	Subaru	26,916	+13.2	67,547	+17.3
#14	Mercedes-Benz	22,546	+12.6	55,995	+10.7
#15	Lexus	20,682	+2.3	47,356	-4.4
#16	Chrysler	20,463	+3.5	42,796	-9.2
#17	BMW	20,295	+12.4	52,617	+13.6
#18	Buick	15,663	+20.9	44,739	+39.2
#19	Acura	12,611	+7.6	31,368	+12.9
#20	Cadillac	12,164	+4.5	40,512	+38.0
#21	Infiniti	11,287	+13.5	27,836	+17.5
#22	Audi	9818	+14.3	25,383	+19.1
#23	Lincoln	8501	-2.2	20,007	-10.7
#24	Mitsubishi	7560	+39.1	20,167	+48.0
#25	Volvo	6369	+21.6	15,440	+10.2
#26	Mini	6087	+68.6	12,341	+41.4
#27	Scion	5540	+57.8	12,759	+33.3
#28	Land Rover	3441	+26.2	8267	+23.1
#29	Porsche	2588	+35.9	7007	+34.2
#30	Suzuki	2497	+11.2	6702	+18.4
#31	Jaguar	874	-21.3	2501	+5.3
#32	Saab	830	+524.1	2069	+1455.6
#33	Fiat	500	-----	500	-----
#34	smart	425	-37.2	1267	-9.3
#35	Maserati	200	+5.8	473	+20.1
#36	Bentley	137	+4.6	320	+2.9

Source: Automakers & Automotive News Data Center

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