Monday night was the deadline for dealers to report their March sales, which meant our first full look at auto sales in 2025 since all automakers report quarterly sales, although some still report monthly.
2025 started very strong for the auto industry with sales up 4.5% for the first quarter of 2025 versus Q1 of 2024. The industry was buoyed by strong incentives, high dealer inventories, and very aggressive incentives. Although not measurable, the fear of President Trump’s tariffs on all cars coming in outside U.S. borders likely created a slight buying frenzy toward the end of March.
Although wary of what affect the tariffs may have, automakers posted impressive gains in March versus a year ago March. Hyundai, Kia, Ford, Honda, and General Motors celebrated double digit gains. Toyota March sales were up almost 8%, Nissan showed a strong increase as they regroup and roll out a lot of new products, and strong sales were reported by Mazda, VW, Subaru, and Mitsubishi. Stellantis sales were off in March, as the company continues to regroup and get things back on track with new management.
Electric vehicles continued to struggle in March, with incentives reaching a record 15% of the MSRP on average. I give you the electric vehicle sales for what they are worth below.
When all was said and done, U.S. auto sales in the first quarter of this year totaled 2,150,176 versus the first quarter of 2024 when sales totaled 2,066,159 marking an increase of more than 4%. Perhaps most significant, fleet sales were down substantially in Q1 this year, meaning more individual buyers purchased or leased, a good sign for the economy and certainly aided in profits for the automakers.
Here are the full first quarter (Jan-Mar) sales results by brand for the entire first quarter of 2025, versus Q1 2024:
| Manufacturer | Q1 2025 | vs Q1 2024 |
1. Toyota |
487,226 |
0.1% |
2. Ford |
474,749 |
1% |
3. Chevrolet |
440,540 |
14% |
4. Honda |
320,811 |
6% |
5. Nissan |
253,920 |
6% |
6. Hyundai |
203,554 |
10% |
7. Kia |
198,850 |
11% |
8. Subaru |
166,958 |
9% |
9. GMC |
146,220 |
18% |
10. Jeep |
140,583 |
10% |
11. Mazda |
110,316 |
10% |
12. Ram |
93,368 |
2% |
13. Volkswagen |
87,915 |
7% |
14. BMW |
89,615 |
4% |
15. Lexus |
83,043 |
6% |
16. Buick |
61,822 |
39% |
17. Audi |
42,710 |
3% |
18. Cadillac |
41,756 |
18% |
19. Chrysler |
35,069 |
1% |
20. Volvo |
33,285 |
8% |
21. Acura |
30,766 |
1% |
22. Mitsubishi |
27,125 |
38% |
23. Lincoln |
23,731 |
5% |
24. Dodge |
21,731 |
49% |
25. Infiniti |
13,165 |
5% |
26. Genesis |
17,508 |
19% |
27. Mini |
6,976 |
10% |
28. Alfa Romeo |
1,952 |
15 % |
29. Maserati |
1,300 |
23% |
30. Bentley |
800 |
6% |
31. Lamborghini |
750 |
17% |
32. Fiat |
522 |
239% |
33. Rolls-Royce |
420 |
8% |
34. McLaren |
300 |
20% |
Electrics (As I always note, these numbers mean nothing. These are estimates by the car companies, not actual sales)
Here are the full first quarter (Jan-Mar) sales results by brand for the entire first quarter of 2025, versus Q1 2024:
Photo Credit: Andy Dean Photography/Shutterstock.com