by Calculated Risk on 4/01/2025 06:32:00 PM
Wards Auto released their estimate of light vehicle sales for March: March U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales Surge in Preemptive Move to Potential Tariff-Based Price Increases (pay site).
March sales were proof that U.S. consumers are very much paying attention to tariffs, as demand on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis surged to 17.8 million units, highest for any month in nearly four years, and far above January-February’s combined total of 15.8 million. Buyers flocking to dealer lots to beat potential price increases, combined with some pre-tariff push by automakers raising deliveries to fleet customers lifted raw volume to over a 4-year high, not to mention a rare double-digit year-over-year gain. Regardless of any coming impacts from tariffs, March’s booming results will cause lower volume in the second quarter due to the additional drain to dealer inventory that, based on industry norms, was already lean prior to the month.
Click on graph for larger image.This graph shows light vehicle sales since 2006 from the BEA (blue) and Wards’ estimate for February (red).
Sales in March were well above the consensus forecast.
This was the best March since 2021.
