Toyota, Hyundai-Kia fleet sales jump in Oct.
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Toyota and Hyundai-Kia increased fleet sales sharply in October while Ford, General Motors and Nissan decreased theirs slightly.
October fleet sales jumped 83 percent to 16,700 units for Toyota Motor Sales and 68 percent to 12,500 units for Hyundai-Kia, according to the Automotive News Data Center.
Toyota had been reducing fleet volume after a first-half flurry. Through October, fleet sales accounted for 10 percent of its sales mix this year, compared with 8 percent in the same period last year.
Hyundai also had been cutting fleet reliance, but the October bump raised its mix to 10 percent for the first 10 months, the same as a year ago.
Other major automakers trimmed fleet sales in October. Ford Motor Co. was down 3 percent, and GM and Nissan North America were off 2 percent. Chrysler Group's fleet volume rose 5 percent.
On Nov. 1, GM sales boss Kurt McNeil said October sales to government and daily rental fleet buyers were unaffected by Superstorm Sandy.
"The fleet decline was focused in our commercial business," he said. "Based on conversations with our customers, we think some of them are waiting until after the elections."
Ford commercial and government fleet volume was steady last month, but daily rental sales dropped slightly, Ford sales analyst Erich Merkle said.
Through 10 months, Ford's fleet dependence has fallen to 31 percent of sales from 33 percent a year earlier.
| Retail vs. fleet sales | ||||||
| Estimated retail and fleet volume for Oct. 2012 vs. Oct. 2011 | ||||||
| Retail: | Oct. 2012 retail sales | Oct. 2012 % retail share | Oct. 2011 retail sales | Oct. 2011 % retail share | % change | |
| General Motors | 153,000 | 78% | 143,300 | 77% | 7% | |
| Toyota Motor | 138,500 | 89% | 124,900 | 93% | 11% | |
| Ford Motor | 124,000 | 74% | 122,200 | 73% | 2% | |
| American Honda | 104,800 | 98% | 96,400 | 98% | 9% | |
| Chrysler Group | 95,200 | 75% | 85,000 | 74% | 12% | |
| Hyundai-Kia | 80,300 | 87% | 82,700 | 92% | -3% | |
| Nissan N.A. | 66,700 | 84% | 69,100 | 84% | -4% | |
| Top 7 | 762,500 | 82% | 723,600 | 83% | 5% | |
| Fleet: | Oct. 2012 fleet sales | Oct. 2012 % fleet share | Oct. 2011 fleet sales | Oct. 2012 % fleet share | % change | |
| Ford Motor | 44,400 | 26% | 45,700 | 27% | -3% | |
| General Motors | 42,800 | 22% | 43,600 | 23% | -2% | |
| Chrysler Group | 31,000 | 25% | 29,500 | 26% | 5% | |
| Toyota Motor | 16,700 | 11% | 9,100 | 7% | 83% | |
| Nissan N.A. | 13,000 | 16% | 13,300 | 16% | -2% | |
| Hyundai-Kia | 12,500 | 13% | 7,400 | 8% | 68% | |
| American Honda | 2,100 | 2% | 2,000 | 2% | 9% | |
| Top 7 | 162,500 | 18% | 150,600 | 17% | 8% | |
| Sources: Manufacturers, industry sources | ||||||
You can reach Jesse Snyder at jsnyder@crain.com.
