There was a new car sales record broken again in March with 109,647 vehicles being delivered which made it the biggest March ever. It was an exciting time for dealers, manufacturers and FMOs. Though it was Fleet Managers that benefited the most with deliveries increasing significantly compared to the first quarter of 2023.
Sales to Government fleets increased by 30.7% in the first three months of 2024 which equates to 2,176 more vehicles which will see more good quality used vehicles into the auction lanes.
The increases could be explained by the significant increase (37.4%) in Toyota deliveries during the quarter because Government fleets have been waiting over 12 months for some models.
Rental buyers had a smaller increase of 11.1% and deliveries to Business buyers were up 16.3% or 15,241 vehicles. Both these segments will welcome the increase in supply so they can turnover older vehicles with higher kilometres and return to normal replacement cycles.
These figures don’t include heavy commercial vehicle sales which slowed in March for the first time in years due to a decline in the Light Duty truck segment. Overall sales were down 2% for the quarter.
