Incentive Plans Help Boost March Car Sales

Boosted by sales incentives on domestic models, new-car sales rose 4.4% in March even though sales of imported makes were down slightly, the companies reported Wednesday. Sales of domestic cars rose 6.9% in the last 10 days of March.

For the month, sales of new cars rose to 968,427 from 963,487 the year before. Sales of U.S.-built cars rose 5.6% to 768,927, while imports fell by 0.08% to 199,500.

Percentage changes are calculated on a daily selling rate because there were 26 selling days in March this year, compared to 27 selling days in March, 1984.

Industry leader General Motors, which suffered declines in sales and in market share for the first two 10-day periods of March, posted a 1.2% increase in the March 21-31 period. Its sales for the full month were down 4.1% from a year ago.

Auto analysts attributed GM’s sales improvement in the last days of the month to its cut-rate financing program that went into effect March 20. Chrysler, Ford Motor and American Motors have had similar incentive programs in effect since late February to move slower-selling small cars.

“GM’s incentive program is working,” said Tom O’Grady, an auto analyst with Chase Econometrics, an investment research firm in Bala Cynwid, Pa. He noted that GM reported sales increases on all car models that are included in its current incentive program.

Ford and Chrysler reported strong sales increases for the month--15.6% and 34.6%, respectively. Of the six domestic manufacturers, only AMC reported a sales decline in March--off 29.5% from a year before.

Some of the Japanese car makers, suffering from car shortages, also posted declines during March. Toyota’s sales fell 13% during the month, and company officials said the decline was due to extremely low inventories brought on by import restrictions and the strong market for new cars.

Nissan sales were off 5.9% in March. Honda said its sales of imported cars fell 14.2% but sales of U.S.-built models were up 55.4%.

During the four years of restraints on exports of Japanese cars to the United States, the Japanese manufacturers have shipped more cars in the first few months of each quota year than they were allowed on a monthly basis under the system. As a result, they have been forced to limit shipments at the end of each quota year to comply with the restraint program.

Auto Sales

Percentage changes in auto sales for the month of March are based on daily rates rather than total sales volume. There were 26 selling days in the 1985 period and 27 selling says in the year-ago period. Total import sales are estimated based on incomplete reports.

% March 1985 1984 change GM 415,218 449,462 -4.1 Ford 204,315 183,537 +15.6 Chrysler 115,729 89,253 +34.6 AMC 11,393 16,788 -29.5 VW U.S. 7,233 7,090 +5.9 Honda U.S. 15,039 10,034 +55.4 DOMESTIC 768,927 756,164 +5.6 Toyota 32,906 39,274 -13.0 Nissan 38,985 43,024 -5.9 Honda 30,228 36,592 -14.2 Mazda 18,034 14,930 +25.4 Subaru 11,876 11,637 +6.0 Volvo 9,582 9,415 +1.8 VW Imports 10,757 10,487 +6.7 Others* 47,132 41,964 +16.6 IMPORTS* 199,500 207,323 -0.08 TOTAL U.S. 968,427 963,487 +4.4

*Estimates