Consumers in the United States purchased more number of new cars in the month of March but increase in the demand, shrinking supplies are fueling worries of higher vehicle prices.
Smaller cars are selling more in US, in the month of January, compact and subcompact vehicles made up 19% of retail auto sales, according to Frod’s analyst. GM’s sales rose to 206,621 vehicles, a 9.9% increase from March 2010. Nissan also increased their sales and Nissan North America Inc. said its March sales rose 26.9% to 121,141, the most it has ever sold in any month in the U.S.
Small cars and hybrids were registered more sales when compared to other cars and the sales of Prius hybrid rose 58 percent and the Toyota is going to rise its car prices by an average of 1.7 percent starting in May. The popular Camry will go up $375, the Highlander SUV by $550.
GM slashed the incentives and discounts it offered in January and February and the over all industry incentives fells 5.6% from February to March. The prices of cars are also increasing due to less supplies of smaller cars with the best fuel economy. Nissan has less than a 30 day supply of small cars such as the Versa, Sentra and Rogue and Ford has taken 40 to supply Fiesta.
Even used car prices are starting to rise. With the natural calamity in Japan, auction prices for 2 to 5 year old compact cars such as the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus have risen about 11% compared with February, according to the National Assn. of Auto Dealers.