Filed under: Car Buying, Earnings/Financials
What actually sells: Fleet sales for first half of 2007
by John Neff on Jul 6th 2007 at 2:02PM 
Automakers often report their sales figures in whatever way makes them look most positive, and for a long time including fleet sales has been an effective way to make a slow selling vehicle look more popular with consumers on paper. Automakers don't distinguish between fleet and retail when reporting their sales, so we've been forced to believe them recently when we've been told that fleet sales are being reduced. General Motors, Ford and the Chrysler Group have all claimed that reducing fleet sales is a component of each company's respective turnaround plan, but we've found a document that suggests they're still way behind Toyota and Honda when it comes to resisting the easy route to higher sales.
These PDF documents from fleet-central.com, which we've converted to images and included below in a handy gallery, report in detail the percentage of sales sold to fleet operators in the first half of 2007. It's broken down by both vehicle segment and specific models, which allows us to pinpoint exactly which depend more on fleet sales than others.
Let's dive right in and pick out some of the more interesting numbers that you may be curious to know.
Subcompacts: (fleet) 149,766 | (retail) 825,697 | (total) 975,463 | (% fleet) 15.4%
Chevrolet Cobalt: 29,090 | 44,141 | 73,231 | 39.7%
Ford Focus: 19,660 | 54,621 | 74,281 | 26.5%
Toyota Corolla 22,999 | 121,348 | 144,347 | 15.9%
Honda Civic: 2,817 | 128,113 | 130,930 | 2.2%
VERDICT: Not surprising: While the Focus is older than the Cobalt, it enjoys a smaller percentage of fleet sales. The Corolla has a lot of fleet sales, but its retail sales are so large that its percentage of fleet sales is relatively small. The Civic's retail sales are higher than the Corolla's, however, which means that it is actually the real best-selling subcompact.
More segments after the jump! All the numbers can be viewed in the gallery below.
UPDATE: Fleet sales for trucks, minivans and SUVs added to the gallery.
[Source: fleet-central.com via AutoSpies]
Gallery: Fleet Sales - first half 2007
Compacts: (fleet) 194,545 | (retail) 306,291 | (total) 500,836 | (% fleet) 38.8%
Chevrolet Malibu: 37,792 | 26,435 | 64,227 | 58.8%
Chrysler Sebring: 25,916 | 14,866 | 40,782 | 63.5%
Dodge Avenger: 10,013 | 2,591 | 12,604 | 79.4%
Dodge Caliber: 23,248 | 28,288 | 51,536 | 45.1%
Ford Fusion: 17,905 | 48,838 | 66,743 | 26.8%
VERDICT: Very surprising: According to these numbers, both the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger are supported largely by fleet sales. The Avenger's retail sales are ridiculously low compared to its fleet sales. The Malibu is about to be replaced by an all-new model, so its high percentage of fleet sales is understandable. The Fusion, meanwhile, enjoys a reasonably low percentage of fleet sales, though it needs to be lower.
Intermediates: (fleet) 309,829 | (retail) 809,332 | (total) 1,119,161 | (% fleet) 27.7%
Buick LaCrosse: 7,199 | 17,475 | 24,674 | 29.2%
Buick Lucerne: 5,111 | 34,012 | 39,123 | 13.1%
Chrysler 300: 29,078 | 36,993 | 66,071 | 44.0%
Ford Five Hundred: 13,885 | 18,337 | 32,222 | 43.1%
Honda Accord: 7,995 | 155,556 | 163,551 | 4.9%
Toyota Avalon: 6,304 | 34,804 | 41,108 | 15.3%
Toyota Camry: 14,762 | 177,431 | 192,193 | 7.7%
VERDICT: Japanese automakers have the upper hand. The Lucerne does well for Buick compared to its smaller sibling, the Lacrosse, which sells less total yet more to fleets. In fact, the Lucerne has almost as many retail sales as the Chrysler 300, which is surprising. The Five-Hundred is headed down the path of the original Taurus with a high percentage of sales to fleets. Here's hoping the new Taurus will buck that trend. The sales numbers of the Camry and Accord stand out here as exceptional, with single-digit percentages of sales to fleets. The Avalon, perhaps Toyota's most likely model to have high fleet sales, had a lower percentage than expected.
Full-Size Cars: (fleet) 37,771 | (retail) 14,811 | (total) 52,582 | (% fleet) 71.8%
Ford Crown Victoria: 25,705 | 2,459 | 28,164 | 91.3%
Mercury Grand Marquis: 12,060 | 12,044 | 24,104 | 50.0%
VERDICT: Predictable: Nearly all of the Crown Victoria's sales are to government agencies like police forces. The Grand Marquis, however, still has a loyal following of retail customers.
Entry-Luxury Cars: (fleet) 21,080 | (retail) 315,824 | (total) 336,904 | (% fleet) 6.3%
Volvo S40: 4,222 | 7,038 | 11,260 | 37.5%
Mercedes-Benz C-Class: 3,312 | 18,829 | 22,141 | 15.0%
BMW 328: 1,047 | 34,670 | 35,717 | 2.9%
Audi A4: 1,632 | 22,628 | 24,260 | 6.7%
Infiniti G35: 3,161 | 29,959 | 33,120 | 9.5%
VERDICT: The Entry-Luxury segment as a whole has a very low percentage of sales to fleet. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class, however, sells more to fleets than its competitors, despite having the lowest total number of sales.
NOTABLES
Lincoln Town Car: 12,235 | 8,687 | 20,922 | 58.5%
Cadillac DTS: 6,462 | 17,128 | 23,590 | 27.4%
Infiniti M35: 1,602 | 8,850 | 10,452 | 15.3%
Cadillac CTS: 2,017 | 20,343 | 22,360 | 9.0%
Lincoln MKZ: 783 | 12,661 | 13,444 | 5.8%
Ford Mustang: 18,541 | 45,350 | 63,891 | 29.0%
Chrysler Crossfire: 1,825 | 760 | 2,585 | 70.6%
Chevrolet Corvette: 440 | 15,825 | 16,265 | 2.7%
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Dave 2:17PM (7/06/2007)
Wow. Not only does Ford sell 3 Fusions per dealer a month, a ton of them are fleet sales! I thought the Fusion was the best thing since slice bread?
So the Fusion took over from where the old Taurus left off. No wonder Fusion sales have been up this year.
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Robert 2:21PM (7/06/2007)
What you are looking at is statistics from Sep 2006 through Feb 2007. NOT January 2007-June 2007.
If you look at the numbers, they don't line up with true sales for the first half of the year. The old Taurus wasn't even on sale after Nov of 2006.
This was a picture before GM and Ford both began their major fleet reductions.
Andy 4:24PM (7/06/2007)
The Five Hundred replaced the Taurus, as a midsize (now "full-size) family sedan. The Fusion was built against the Civic and Corolla. Is anyone surprised by this? The Cobalt, Impala, and Avenger are built with the quality for a rental car. The Fusion, on the other hand, is an outstanding car.
That One Person 5:29PM (7/06/2007)
Ummm Andy? The Fusion is a mid size. It competes with the Accord and Camry.
The "new" Taurus is a full size which competes with the Avalon and Maxima.
The Civic and Corolla are considered compacts. Those two compete with the Focus.
Don 6:41PM (7/06/2007)
No wonder Chrysler's choking...look at those fleet sales.
psarhjinian 6:59AM (7/07/2007)
The Fusion is rather more a replacement for the Contour; the Contour for the Tempo. Ford discontined the Contour and hoped buyers would split the difference between the (then new) Focus and Taurus.
It didn't happen, hence the Fusion and Five Hundred we have today.
ollie 2:20PM (7/06/2007)
My software company last October went in to buy 10 Honda's for staff cars. They would not give us any discount. Fleet or no fleet you have to buy at a retail level. However for fleets the leasing was better, we got 2.9% while avg customers got 5.8%. And that was it. We ended up getting Pontiacs at $250 over invoice and 0.9% lease rate for 3 years.
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John R 2:21PM (7/06/2007)
This is pretty informative piece.
Chrysler needs to scrap Avenger/Sebring entirely, IMO. Interior is sub-par and the powertrains are anemic. Not to mention they're both either hedious to look at (Avenger) or completely forgetable (Sebring).
Crossfire failure, I think, has to do with it's initial MSRP. DCX originally wanted $45k for the SRT variant, which when considering the interior, I think is asking for a little much.
(Puts on flame suit)
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DriftPunch 2:22PM (7/06/2007)
In retail sales, the Corvette had higher numbers than the Sebring... Now that's saying something...
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joe 2:31PM (7/11/2007)
A SEBRING IS A SEBRING AND A COVETTE IS A COVETTE.OLDER PEOPLE FULLFILLING A DREAM BUY COVETTES THE REST BUY SEBRINGS
Amber 2:24PM (7/06/2007)
The brand new Sebring and Avenger sell 73% of the production to Fleets!? OMG
More Corvettes go to fleets than Honda Civics!? OMG
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Dr. Greenthumb 2:33PM (7/06/2007)
Now, WhoTF wants to rent a Civic when on vacation? Corvettes and 'Stangs are highly sought out by renters in Cali & Florida. The Sebring conv. should also do well as a rental in the warmer climates.
theun4gven 10:25AM (7/11/2007)
"More Corvettes go to fleets than Honda Civics!? OMG"
How do you figure?
Civics to fleet: 2,817
Corvettes to fleet: 440
More than six times as many Civics go to fleet than Corvettes.
Amber 12:39PM (7/11/2007)
It beats Civic by percentage of vehicles not raw numbers. look again.
Ray 12:42PM (7/11/2007)
the only people driving hondas are morons and cheap skates
Dinger 2:24PM (7/06/2007)
The sad part is that the Cobalt could be such a great seller.
If it were nicer.
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Robert 2:27PM (7/06/2007)
The Fusion's gains this year have been exclusively retail. Even in April this year when sales were flat for the Fusion, its retail sales were up. Check your facts before making assumptions.
Also, brand new cars (1-3 months) often get put in rental lots at higher rates than new cars that are four-six months into production. One reason is to boost initial sales and another is to shake out your products under some of the hardest driving they'll experience. The Camry's rental numbers in its early cycle last year were really high for Toyota (I think I read 15% somewhere), but that tapered off as the car rolled out and gained momentum.
This same report had the Edge going 25% or so to rental fleets, but the total sales for the Edge at the time was like 20,000. Now, the Edge's fleet sales are tiny and the total fleet ratio (including good fleet sales) is around 10%.
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james cordero 2:29PM (7/06/2007)
Dave, perhaps you should read the numbers again, Ford is actually showing some welcome restraint in their fleeting of the Fusion! I am sure the other companies on that list wish that they were only fleeting out 26 percent of their sales! Try to find a positive when you get the opportunity instead of the negative. It really does make life nicer and more enjoyable.
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Justin 2:49PM (7/06/2007)
What's wrong with fleet sales necessarily? If you can offer a better price/value to a customer, then a sale's a sale. Why don't fleets buy camry's/civic's? (are they not competitively priced?)
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Famous Chinese 3:19PM (7/06/2007)
Because traditionally, domestic manufacturers offered up to 30% off MSRP. On such sales no one made a penny (from the automaker side, of course). But such sales moved cars off the lots and increased "sales" numbers on paper. Cool way to pull the veil over shareholders and demonstrate "improvements".
Why don't fleets buy camry's/civic's? Because fleets are accustomed to buying cars at 2/3-3/4 of their prices. Toyota will sell more than GM, and it will sell those at their full price, then why lose 1/3 on each sale? Only agonizing Big 2.5 monsters are willing to offload their stocks, making no profit, just to show their "recovery plans" working.