[MEIN_VW]

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100614/RETAIL01/306149953/1078

You might need a subscription to view the article. I'd post it but I don't want to get my subscription yanked for posting it here.

Anyways, here's the numbers for Q1 2010 compared to Q1 2009:

Chrysler - retail sales down 35%, fleet sales up 111%

General Motors - retail sales down 3%, fleet sales up 136%

Ford - retail sales up 20%, fleet sales up 121%

And this was a bit of a surprise - Honda - retail sales up 9%, fleet sales up 83%

 

[jetta2.8]

Wow. I guess a lot of companies need new cars and trucks?:what: 100% + is a lot.

 

[joe97]

Honda was a BIG surprise, especially considering how little they'd generally send to fleet. Toyota was another surprise, but in a good way, especially considering all of its issues (those may not have been fully defined until Q2, however).

I believe Hyundai-Kia was the only Big7 to slash fleet units and improve on the retail side. Their incentives were also held to historical lows, according to Edmunds IIRC.

The high increase in fleet units from the domestics weren't too surprising but nonetheless on the high side. Ford & GM at least performed good and fair (respectively) on the retail side, especially after the disaster 2009; Chrysler really needs to pick it up in the worst way, and hopefully its upcoming new products can help pickup the slack.

 

[1SICKLEX]

Chrysler, GM and Honda...just wow...they basically made the entire industry average shoot up. Honda usually has low fleet sales. With news they didn't make any gains with the Toyota mess and now we see Fleet sales are holding them up, their state right now is on shaky ground.

 

[ByronLLN]

Kind of a silly thing to single out. Rental fleets tightened up like nuns at a biker bar last year. They had to start buying again at some point.

And also, Ford and GM both scored pretty big government fleet contracts last year, as I recall, and I'm sure that's factoring in at this point.

The only real story here is Hyundai.

 

[PDing]

If I remember correctly, Hyundai's fleet months are strong in 2nd Half. Particularly Q3 when new model year launches.

 

[robr2]

Also, percentage increase don't tell the whole story. If Ford sold 1000 units into fleets, then a 121% would translate into 2210 units.

I'd like to see the real numbers.

 

[whitejeep1989]

Fleet sales is not always a dirty thing. Ford, GM, and Chrysler do huge business in government, law enforcement, fire/first response, and construction/contractors. A lot of these entities put off replacing vehicles when the economy was completely in the crapper, and probably was in no rush to buy new trucks and vans when gas was $5/gallon. Now that some sanity has returned to things, vehicles that were long overdue for replacing are being retired.

 

[nemesis099]

Fleet sales is not always a dirty thing. Ford, GM, and Chrysler do huge business in government, law enforcement, fire/first response, and construction/contractors. A lot of these entities put off replacing vehicles when the economy was completely in the crapper, and probably was in no rush to buy new trucks and vans when gas was $5/gallon. Now that some sanity has returned to things, vehicles that were long overdue for replacing are being retired.

This is true as long as they are not all going to Hertz, Avis, etc this is not bad as the places buying are probably going to keep the vehicles for most of their useful life.