Deliveries of new, light vehicles in the U.S. appear to be on pace for another record year.
DETROIT, MI - Deliveries of new, light vehicles in the U.S. appear to be on pace for another record year.
In the first quarter, deliveries of new cars and trucks were up 3 percent over the first three months of 2015 to 4,087,765 units, according to figures from Autodata Corp.
Within that total, light truck deliveries accounted for 2,341,663 units - a rise of 10 percent year-over-year. At the same time, car sales fell 5 percent to 1,746,102 units.
"From the volume perspective, numbers are still very, very good," Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book, said in a conference call with reporters. "Automakers are still reporting very strong results top to bottom."
Low fuel prices have also boosted sales of pickup trucks and SUVs.
The Detroit Three have gotten off to a decent start to 2016.
Through the first quarter of 2016, General Motors' deliveries of new cars and trucks in the U.S. are flat at 683,698 units, though the flat result is due to the Detroit automaker winding down certain fleet products.
Ford Motor Co.'s are up 8 percent to 641,587 units and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US has grown deliveries 9 percent to 551,103 units.
Some foreign automakers have been struggling in the first three months of this year.
Mazda Motor of America's deliveries have fallen 17 percent to 64,643 units in the first quarter. BMW of North America's deliveries are off 11 percent to 81,674 units. And Volkswagen Group of America, wading its way through a diesel emissions scandal, saw its deliveries drop 7 percent to 111,789 units in the first quarter of 2016.
For the Detroit Three in the month of March, GM's sales were up 1 percent to 252,128 units, Ford's grew 8 percent to 254,711 units and FCA's rose 8 percent over March 2015 to 213,187 units.
Meanwhile, here were the top-selling makes and models for the month of March, according to figures from Autodata via the Associated Press:
Vehicle: Total sold: % change:
Ford F-Series 73,884 +9.1
Chevrolet Silverado 47,966 +6.1
Ram Pickup 44,874 +7.9
Toyota Camry 36,991 -9.3
Nissan Altima 34,856 +8.9
Honda Civic 32,855 +21.8
Toyota Corolla 32,556 -8.4
Honda Accord 30,523 +17.3
Ford Fusion 29,675 +2.2
Toyota RAV4 29,045 +15.1
David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook.