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U.S. sales fell again at Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., Hyundai, Kia and Subaru last month as tight inventories caused by supply-chain bottlenecks continue to undermine the auto industry’s recovery from the pandemic.
Toyota Motor, with one of the industry’s leanest new-vehicle stockpiles, said first-quarter sales skidded 15 percent to 514,592. It was still enough to edge past General Motors by 5,484 deliveries, which reported first-quarter volume slid 20 percent to 509,108.
GM’s brands all posted declines in the latest quarter: 20 percent at Chevrolet, 7.5 percent at GMC, 58 percent at Buick and 24 percent at Cadillac.
Toyota overtook GM as the bestselling U.S. automaker in 2021. GM sales have now dropped three straight quarters.
Toyota said March deliveries slid 24 percent behind declines of 23 percent at the Toyota division and 29 percent at Lexus. It was the eighth consecutive monthly decline at the Toyota brand and second straight dip at Lexus.
Stellantis says it sold 405,221 vehicles in the first quarter. Overall, total U.S. and retail sales for the first quarter declined 14 percent and 13 percent, respectively, the company said. Volume dropped 2 percent at Jeep and 15 percent at Ram.
Honda Motor Co. sales skidded for the eighth consecutive month, with March deliveries down 27 percent at the Honda brand and 26 percent at Acura.
“We’re riding a bit of a roller coaster due to fluctuating parts supply issues,” said Dave Gardner, executive vice president at American Honda. “We aren’t out of the woods yet, but we will continue to manage the supply issues to maximize production and help our dealers meet the needs of our customers.”
Volume fell for the tenth straight month at Subaru, with March sales sliding 34 percent and first-quarter volume down 18 percent.
First-quarter volume at Nissan plunged 30 percent compared to last year, with the Nissan division falling 29 percent and Infiniti down 41 percent.
Volume last month dropped 21 percent at Hyundai, snapping a two-month streak of gains, while Kia deliveries declined 11 percent after an increase of 2.3 percent in February. First-quarter volume also fell at both Korean brands, though Hyundai reported record U.S. retail sales of 159,676 during the period.
Hyundai’s top-selling models all posted double-digit declines last month: Santa Fe, down 12 percent; Sonata, off 82 percent; Tucson, down 13 percent; Elantra, off 19 percent, Kona, down 42 percent; and Palisade, off 21 percent.
Hyundai’s March results also reflected zero fleet deliveries for the third straight month.
The company said it ended March with 3,057 cars and 14,214 light trucks in stock, down from 3,977 cars and 14,644 crossovers and pickups on hand at the end of February.
Sales rose for the 16th straight month at Genesis behind a 53 percent increase in March.
Most automakers are scheduled to release U.S. sales results for March and the first quarter on Friday. Ford Motor Co., Volkswagen brand, Volvo, Daimler and Jaguar Land Rover will report results next week or later in month.
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