Coronavirus forces auto industry to pivot to online selling
FOX Business’ Grady Trimble on how car dealerships are adapting to customers staying home amid coronavirus.
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U.S. auto sales fell off a cliff in late March as the coronavirus crisis came to a head, with almost every brand and segment posting a decline in sales for the quarter. Job losses, financial insecurity and restrictions on retail operations all contributed to the decline.
(AP)
Full-size trucks bucked the trend somewhat, dropping just 29 percent in the last week of March compared to 61 percent for the entire industry, according to J.D. Power.
2020 Chevrolet Silverado Custom Trail Boss
General Motors even managed to post its best first quarter in the segment since 2007 and the entire Ram brand was up 3 percent on the strength of its pickups.
(Ford)
The Ford F-Series remained the best-selling model with 186,562 sold, but that was down from 214,611 in 2019.
(Ram)
The 143,696 Chevy Silverados sold were enough to take second place back from the Ram pickup, which held the spot last year. Combined with the GMC Sierra's 53,099 sales, GM moved 197,743 full-size trucks.
THE LOWEST-PRICED PICKUPS IN AMERICA
The only other top model that saw an increase in sales was the Toyota Rav4 in fourth with 97,631, helping it maintain its position as the best-selling-vehicle-other-than-a-pickup.
Here’s a look at the top 10 so far in 2020:
Ford F-Series - 186,562
Chevrolet Silverado - 143,698
Ram pickup - 128,805
Toyota RAV4 - 97,631
Toyota Camry - 77,188
Chevrolet Equinox - 73,453
Honda CR-V - 71,186
Toyota Corolla - 69,214
Honda Civic - 63,944
Nissan Rogue - 59,716
Note: Tesla does not report U.S. sales