J.D. Power and Associates Reports: U.S. Light-Vehicle Retail Sales Through March 22 Down by 40 Percent

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., March 26, 2009: Retail new-vehicle sales during the first 17 selling days of March were down by 40 percent compared with the same period one year ago, according to J.D. Power and Associates, which gathers real-time transaction data from more than 10,000 dealerships across the United States.

New-vehicle retail sales for the entire month of March are projected to come in at 633,000 units, compared with 1.07 million units a year ago. Retail sales in February totaled 557,000 units. To better reflect consumer demand for new vehicles, J.D. Power and Associates focuses on retail sales, which include only dealership sales and leases to private parties and does not include fleet sales.

The seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) for retail sales in March is expected to be 7.4 million units, down from 7.7 million units in February.

Total sales for the month of March -- including fleet sales -- are projected to come in at 798,000 units, which translates to a SAAR of 9.2 million units.

In addition, according to metrics from the Power Information Network (PIN), a division of J.D. Power and Associates, net revenue -- defined as the net total of spending for consumer transactions multiplied by retail units sold -- is running at the same level of decline as retail sales.

"While the automotive market is down 40 percent year over year through the first quarter of 2009, the remainder of the year continues to be an open question," said Gary Dilts, senior vice president of global automotive operations at J.D. Power and Associates. "We're still seeing economic headwinds and reduced consumer demand for new vehicles, making it a tough marketplace. However, we anticipate that improvements on Wall Street and a boost in consumer confidence will help to bring the market back."

The crossover utility vehicle (CUV) segment is generating the greatest year-over-year segment share growth, up by three percentage points since March 2008. In contrast, the traditional utility vehicle, compact car and midsize car segments are generating the greatest year-over-year declines in segment share. A proliferation of new CUV models has been introduced to capitalize on this shift in consumer demand. A total of nine new models have been introduced since February 2008.

"The retail and total sales projections for March are falling right in line with our previous expectations for the month," said Dilts.