USA March/Q1 2025: General Motors soars +17% in market spurred by last minute sales rush

A new models pushes Chevrolet Equinox sales up 50.1%

The March U.S. new car sales figure was impacted by the urgency created by the 25% import tariff announcement. Customers rushed to purchase vehicles in the final days of the month , leading to a March volume up 9.1% year-on-year to 1.59 million units. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales (SAAR) is estimated to soar to 17.8 million, the highest in four years. In March, truck sales are up 11.1% to 1.28 million units while passenger cars edge up 1.4% to 312,000 units. Q1 volumes are up 4.4% to 3.928 million. According to Cox Automotive, supply of new vehicles on dealer lots has significantly decreased as a result of the March rush. Total inventory is 2.69 million units at the end of March vs. 2.99 million at the beginning of the month. The industry supply average is 70 days, with Lincoln (127 days), Dodge (111), Ram (110) and Infiniti (110) having the largest supply and Lexus (30), Toyota (32), Honda (46) and Subaru (49) the smallest. The average transaction price of a new vehicle was $47,462 in March, up 0.3% year-on-year. New-vehicle sales incentives were 7.0%, or $3,339.

In the OEM Q1 charts, General Motors posts a very strong performance with sales up 17% to 690,000 units. In contrast Toyota Motor (+0.9%) and Ford Motor (-1.3%) can’t capitalise on the market growth. Hyundai-Kia (+10.7%) is also in outstanding shape just as American Honda (+5.3%) is strong. Stellantis (-12%) endures another mediocre result at #6 with Nissan Motor/Mitsubishi sturdy at +8%. Brand-wise, Toyota (+0.1%) manages to stay on top, less than 13,000 units above Ford (-1.1%). Chevrolet surges 14.3%, followed by Honda (+5.7%) and Nissan (+6.3%). Below, GMC (+17.6%), Kia (+10.7%), Hyundai (+10.1%) and Subaru (+9.1%) all post market-beating improvements and all fit within the Top 10. Jeep (-10.5%) and Tesla (-7.3%) struggle. Further down, Land Rover (+67%), Buick (+39.3%) and Mitsubishi (+38.4%) stand out.

The Ford F-Series surges 24.5% year-on-year to widen the gap with the rest of the market. The Chevrolet Silverado (+0.1%) is stable at #2 but the Toyota RAV4 (-7.5%) suffers in third place. Its archenemy the Honda CR-V (+8.7%) is catching up at #4. The performance of the quarter is delivered by the Chevrolet Equinox, up 50.1% year-on-year and up six spots on its FY24 ranking to #5 overall. The Ram Pickup (-11.8%) tumbles down but stays at #6, only 307 sales ahead of the GMC Sierra (+14.5%) in excellent shape. The Tesla Model Y (-29.1%) freefalls to #8 while the Toyota Camry (-10.2%) is the only passenger car in the Top 10. The Nissan Rogue (-31.6%) is hit hard at #10. The Toyota Tacoma (+177.5%) compensates on particularly low year-ago volumes and climbs back up to #11 vs. #17 over the Full Year 2024.  Looking at passenger cars, below the Camry the Honda Civic (-4.8%) ranks at #13 above the Toyota Corolla (-7.7%) at #14 and the Nissan Sentra (+36.1%) at #16. The Chevrolet Trax (+57%) and Hyundai Tucson (+20.8%) make themselves noticed further down.

Previous month: USA February 2025: Volvo (+40.1%), Genesis (+20.4%) excel in negative market

One year ago: USA March/Q1 2024: Market up 5%, Toyota (+21.3%), Honda (+20.9%) shine

Full Q1 2025 Top 15 OEMs, Top 46 All brands and Top 308 All models below.