After years of coming in behind Honda in retail sales, Chrysler surpassed the Japanese automaker by around 7,100 cars in April, according to U.S. sales data from Automotive News. For April 2014, 77% of Chrysler’s sales were to retail customers, a greater proportion than GM (73%) or Ford (67%).
Sergio Marchionne said the ideal number seemed to be around 80% retail sales, 20% fleet.
Chrysler remained the #3 automaker in fleets with 41,700 sales, behind GM and Ford, which have similar fleet sales (69,500 and 69,200). Hyundai-Kia, Toyota, and Nissan have all been increasing their fleet sales as the Detroit automakers have been drawing back (particularly from rental fleets). Toyota, the #2 automaker in retail, sold 89% of its vehicles to non-fleet customers.
Some fleet sales can be beneficial, but in past years, according to some analysts, unprofitable or breakeven fleet deals have been used to cover up retail sales declines.
