Coronavirus: Automotive sales plunged in March due to COVID-19

Due to the economic turmoil and productions halts caused by the coronavirus pandemic, global automotive sales tumbled in March. Several brands reported their first quarter results of 2020 including General Motors which reported a volume decline of 7.1 per cent. But, it did have some good news such as sales of the Chevrolet Bolt EV going up 36.1 per cent…

Also, Chevrolet Trax sales were up by 14.9 per cent.

Chevrolet Spark sales went up by huge 45.6 per cent too.

The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra lines were up nearly 28 per cent combined.

FCA saw a 10 per cent drop in sales compared to the first quarter of 2019. The Jeep brand took a hit too but its sales would have been down more than 20 per cent had it not been for the added volume of the Gladiator.

The Chrysler Pacifica minivan and the Dodge Durango midsize SUV managed a 5 per cent increase over the first quarter of last year.

Toyota took a 37 per cent hit to set it back 9 per cent for the year. RAV4 sales remained up by 16.5 per cent for the quarter.

Nissan’s Q1 volumes were off by 30 per cent compared to 2019 but there were several highlights including the Kicks which was up 11.6 per cent and the Pathfinder (up 4.3 per cent).

Hyundai's US sales alone dropped by 43 per cent compared to the same month a year ago, and more than 11 per cent in the first quarter but the Ioniq improved over its Q1 2019 sales but by just 200 units.

Kia saw a March slide of 18 per cent, but still beat its 2019 Q1 by just under 1 per cent. The Telluride outperformed its 2019 March sales, but only just.

Subaru saw a 47 per cent volume drop, setting it back more than 16 per cent for the year.

Volkswagen reported a 13 per cent slide for Q1 but there was a big bump in the outgoing Golf R with sales up nearly 450 per cent.

Porsche was off by 20 per cent in Q1 with the Panamera and Cayenne both seeing 30 per cent drops in volume, while the 718 Boxster and Cayman together slid nearly 40 per cent.

Mazda dropped by 4.5 per cent of its Q1 sales volume compared to a year ago with the Mazda3 and Mazda6 sales plummeting by nearly 70 per cent in March.

Mitsubishi took a hit last month too, seeing a 52 per cent drop and setting it back more than 15 per cent for 2020.