U.S. sales observations for the first quarter

April 09, 2018 01:00 AM

Volvo XC90

So much for the slump: U.S. light-vehicle sales rose 2.0 percent in the quarter following the first full-year decline in seven years in 2017.

By the way, first-quarter sales of 4,117,766 not only topped 2017, it beat the first three months of 2016, which turned out to be the best sales year on record. Yep, the market is speeding along nicely, but what’s going on under the hood? We take a look:

A very cool million

Light-truck sales reached a new high in March: 1,116,280. It was only the fifth time light trucks have topped a million in a month. For the quarter, the truck share of the market was 68 percent -- another record.

Made in Japan

U.S. sales of Japan-built light vehicles continue to climb, rising above 500,000 vehicles in the quarter and accounting for 12.2 percent of the market, up from 11.3 percent in the same period last year.

Share swapping

Market share got jumbled around a bit in the quarter. Ford shed 0.6 percentage points and Hyundai lost 0.5. Who picked up the loose share? Toyota added 0.7 and Chevy picked up 0.2. And then there was Jeep ...

Jeep storms back

After a surge over several years that culminated with a 5.3 percent market share in 2016, Jeep lost half a percentage point in 2017, falling to 4.8 percent. But in the first quarter the brand soared to a record 5.5 percent share on a 21 percent sales increase.

Volvo with a vengeance

Luxury-vehicle sales rose 2.9 percent in the quarter, or 13,450 units. Volvo accounted for about half of the increase — adding 6,604 units to 20,083. The big decliner in the luxury ranks was Lincoln, down 17 percent to 22,462, which puts it square in Volvo’s sights.

Rogue in vogue

In that colossal compact crossover category, Nissan’s Rogue surged into a first-quarter lead after being edged out by Toyota’s RAV4 in 2017. The Rogue rose 15 percent in the first three months to pass the RAV4, which is getting set for a redesign. Meanwhile, Chevy’s Equinox zipped past the Honda CR-V. All told, the segment accounted for 711,527 sales in the quarter, 13 percent above the previous year and more than all pickup sales, midsize and large.

Crossing the Rubicon

In 2017, cars clung to a narrow lead over crossovers, 6,120,774-6,047,806. But in the first quarter, the sit-high vehicles leaped in front: 1,569,232-1,332,744.

Shrinking segment

Word got out last week that GM will end production of the Chevrolet Sonic subcompact. It’s a pretty good segment to get out of. The category is in tatters, down 19 percent in the first quarter to 107,909 cars. The segment-leading Nissan Versa is off 18.4 percent. Also down: the Kia Soul, Ford Fiesta, Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Hyundai Accent and, of course, the Sonic. The Chevy was off 21.5 percent to less than 6,000 vehicles.

Toyota’s going places

Toyota slipped past Chevrolet and pulled closer to first-place Ford in the traditional battle of the Big 3 brands. After the first quarter of 2017, Toyota was 115,000 units behind Ford. So far in 2018 it is less than 70,000 back.

Mazda zooms

Among top 20 brands, Mazda grew the fastest in the first quarter. Sales rose 22 percent and the Japanese brand leapfrogged Volkswagen, BMW and Lexus. Mazda’s been gunning for a 2 percent share in the U.S. and in the first quarter it got there.

Where pickup action is

All told, midsize pickups were up 21 percent in the first quarter. The Toyota Tacoma, Chevrolet Colorado and Nissan Frontier all recorded big gains. The full-size segment dipped 0.6 percent.

The Bimmer is back

With its 3 series, BMW all but defined the compact luxury class, though lately Mercedes’ C class has led the segment. But in the first quarter, the 3 series pulled ahead of the C class by a slender margin, 13,651-13,350.