Volkswagen's new sports utility vehicles, including the Chattanooga-made Atlas, powered double-digit sales gains again last month for VW even though sales of the Chattanooga-made Passat were barely half the volume of a year earlier.
VW said Tuesday its U.S. sales rose 17.8 percent last month over March 2017. The Chattanooga- made Atlas, which will add a five-passenger version to its lineup within the next year, sold 15,132 vehicles in the first three months of 2018 in its first winter sales season since the SUV was introduced last spring.
Last month was also the best month to date for VW's all-new 2018 Tiguan, with 8,276 units sold. Combined with the Atlas, Tiguan Limited and Touareg, SUVs accounted for more than 50 percent of the sales for VW so far this year. In the first quarter of 2018, SUVs made up only 14.4 percent of VW sales.
VW's Passat sedan, which Volkswagen began making at its only U.S. assembly plant, in Chattanooga in 2012, fell by 46.6 percent in the first quarter of the year compared with a year ago, leading Volkswagen to idle production at its Chattanooga plant this week.
Hamilton County sales
Registrations of new cars and trucks in the first quarter of 2018 dropped to the lowest level in eight years. In the first three months of the year, Hamilton County registered new cars and trucks totaling:› 2018: 2,856 vehicles› 2017: 3,207 vehicles› 2016: 3,224 vehicles› 2015: 2,904 vehicles› 2014: 2,921 vehicles› 2013: 2,946 vehicles› 2012: 3,027 vehicles› 2011: 2,689 vehicles› 2010: 2,203 vehiclesSource: Hamilton County Clerk’s Office
Despite the dropoff in Passat sales, Volkswagen sales gains last month still outpaced the industry wide gains of 6.3 percent, according to Autodata Corp.
Autodata said truck and SUV sales rose 16 percent while car sales plunged more than 9 percent during March. Nearly two-thirds of all U.S. vehicles sold last month were trucks or SUVs.
"Healthy first-quarter numbers indicate the industry is on solid ground, but that doesn't mean we can expect another banner year for new car sales," Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com executive director of industry analysis, said in a statement Tuesday. "Though March tends to be a prognosticator for the year as a whole, if automakers remain disciplined with incentives and further rein in spending, we could potentially see sales start to tumble in the high-volume summer months when shoppers aren't seeing the deals they are looking for."
In Hamilton County, trucks comprised 68.5 percent of all vehicle sales during the first quarter.
While trucks continue to sell well, the slowdown in car sales reduced overall new vehicle sales in Hamilton County during the first three months of 2018 by nearly 11 percent from last year's level. The number of new vehicles registered with the Hamilton County Clerk's office in the first three months of the year were at the lowest level for any first quarter in seven years.
Jeff Schuster, a senior vice president at the forecasting firm LMC Automotive, said car and truck buyers appear not to be too worried over uncertainty in politics, potential trade wars and a volatile stock market.
"All in all, it looks like consumers are starting to get used to the noise," said Schuster, who predicts for all of 2018 U.S. vehicle sales will total just less than 17 million, down 1.4 percent from last year.
Monthly sales reports may become a thing of the past if other automakers follow General Motors. The company announced Tuesday that after March, it would stop reporting monthly sales in favor of quarterly numbers.
Here's how individual automakers fared in dealer showrooms last month:
» General Motors posted the biggest sales increase at 15.7 percent to 296,138 vehicles. It was led by the Buick brand with a 28 percent increase.
» Fiat Chrysler reported almost a 13.6 percent increase to 216,063 vehicles. It was led by a 45 percent increase in sales of the all-SUV Jeep brand.
» Ford said its sales rose 3.5 percent to 243,021. Ford brand sales were up 3.7 percent.
» Toyota sales also went up 3.5 percent to 222,782, led by Toyota brand sales, which rose 4.5 percent.
» Nissan reported a 3.7 percent sales decline to 162,535. Nissan brand sales dropped 3.6 percent.
» Honda reported a 3.8 percent increase to 142,392. It was led by the Acura luxury brand, which saw a 15.7 percent increase.
» Hyundai sales were off 11 percent to 61,540 as the car-heavy Korean brand struggled in a market that's shifting to SUVs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340.