If you don't know how to raise your U.S. market share in 2016, here is the answer – you have to turbocharge fleet sales. Actually, that may be the only way in an increasingly competitive market that has hit a plateau after six years of growth. Fleet activity has defined overall sales winners and losers, according to industry sources that track bulk sales to rental companies and commercial and government buyers.
Through September, major players with double-digit fleet increases posted net sales gains. Those that cut back or stood pat on fleet lost overall volume. Analysts say that fleet is the lever automakers can pull and we guess they're right. Most notably, fleet sales jumped 40 percent at Nissan North America, offsetting a modest retail decline and putting it more than 60,000 units ahead of the same period in 2015. The group's 5.4 percent sales gain through September was No. 1 among the top seven groups. Fiat Chrysler grew U.S. fleet volume by 95,300 units this year, but with sagging sales at dealerships, overall sales at FCA US were up by just 60,000. Still, that's good for a 3.6 percent sales gain.
A 15 percent fleet bump pushed Hyundai-Kia net sales up 25,300 units, a gain of 2.4 percent. Ford Motor's 10 percent fleet increase netted an 11,800 sales gain, up 0.6 percent. By contrast, General Motors deliberately slashed fleet volume 19 percent this year to bolster residual values and cut low-margin sales to daily rental operators. GM's retail sales are 14,200 units higher this year, but 101,700 fewer fleet sales left it more than 87,000 units lower overall, a decline of 3.8 percent. Toyota Motor sales, which has kept fleet unchanged at 10 percent of its U.S. sales mix this year, is down about 45,000 units overall or 2.4 percent.
