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U.S. NEWSSaturday 2 April 2016
Tesla Motors unveils the new lower-priced Model 3 sedan at the Tesla Motors design studio in March was best US auto
Hawthorne, Calif., Thursday, March 31, 2016. Demand for the electric vehicle surprised even the
company’s CEO Friday as 198,000 people plunked down $1,000 deposits to reserve their vehicles. sales month in 10 years
(AP Photo/Justin Pritchard) TOM KRISHER
AP Auto Writer
Orders for lower-priced Tesla hit 198K DETROIT (AP) — Most major automakers reported U.S.
sales gains last month as stronger employment figures
DEE-ANN DURBIN credits gradually phase such as the Nissan Leaf and and consumer confidence drove the auto industry to
JUSTIN PRITCHARD out after a company hits BMW i3. its best March in 16 years.
Associated Press 200,000 in U.S. sales. On Twitter, Musk estimated But the sales growth rate appeared to be slowing
HAWTHORNE, Calif. (AP) — A Tesla spokeswoman that the average selling as brisk SUV and truck sales barely offset falling car
Demand for Tesla Motors’ wouldn’t say how many of price of a Model 3 with sales. Some automakers had to raise discounts on
new lower-priced elec- the 198,000 orders came options would be around cars or peddle more of them to rental companies.
tric car surprised even the from the U.S. $42,000. So the sales would That could mean better deals for car buyers down
company’s CEO Friday as Thursday night, Musk said bring more than $8.3 billion the road.
198,000 people plunked Tesla had 115,000 orders in revenue to Tesla. Overall, U.S. sales rose 3.2 percent to 1.59 million, the
down $1,000 deposits to re- since the company started Prototypes looked like a best March since 2000, according to Kelley Blue Book.
serve their vehicles. taking them earlier in the shorter version of Tesla’s But the growth was only about half of last year’s 6
“Definitely going to need day in Australia. There were Model S sedan. The Model percent increase. Car sales dropped 6 percent, while
to rethink production plan- long lines at Tesla stores 3 has a panoramic glass SUVs and trucks were up 11 percent, according to
ning,” a surprised CEO Elon from Hong Kong to Aus- roof and an elongated Autodata Corp.
Musk said on his Twitter tin, Texas, reminiscent of hood. Inside, it seats five Ford, Honda, Fiat Chrysler, Nissan, Hyundai and Gen-
feed. Musk unveiled the crowds at Apple stores for and has the same large eral Motors all reported increases, largely driven by
car Thursday night at a de- early models of the iPhone. touchscreen dashboard SUVs and trucks. But Toyota sales fell nearly 3 percent
sign studio near Los Ange- But the number kept rising as other Teslas. It also has as rising SUV numbers couldn’t overcome car sales
les. It starts at $35,000 and into Friday. Tesla’s suite of semi-auton- that fell almost 10 percent. Toyota’s Camry, the top-
has a range of 215 miles “Thought it would slow way omous driving features, selling car in the U.S., saw sales drop 9 percent to just
per charge, which is far down today, but Model 3 including automatic lane under 37,000. The sales figures, coupled with Friday’s
more than most people order count is now at 198k,” changing and lane keep- announcement that U.S. employers added 215,000
drive each day. Musk tweeted during the ing. Musk said it will accel- jobs in March, showed that the economy remained
The orders came from afternoon, saying the wait erate from zero to 60 in less healthy despite stock market turmoil. Unemployment
across the globe even time for the car is “growing than 6 seconds. rose slightly to 5 percent, but that was because the
though the car isn’t sched- rapidly.” Tesla has a history of miss- number of Americans looking for work has increased.
uled for sale until late in The Model 3 is less than half ing deadlines for its vehi- It all means that auto sales will continue to lead eco-
2017. But they could jeop- the cost of Tesla’s previ- cles to hit the market, but nomic growth, said Mustafa Mohatarem, GM’s chief
ardize a $7,500 U.S. electric ous models, and its range Musk said Thursday that he economist. “We expect historically low interest rates,
car tax credit that many is about double what driv- feels “fairly confident” that strong employment, rising wages and stable fuel pric-
buyers are counting on to ers get from current com- the Model 3 will come out es to continue for the foreseeable future,” he said.
reduce the price. The tax petitors in its price range, next year. Nissan sales were up 13 percent, hitting a record for
any month in its history. At Fiat Chrysler and Ford, sales
rose 8 percent, while they grew 0.9 percent at Gen-
eral Motors. Honda reported a 9 percent increase fu-
eled largely by the all-new Civic compact, and SUVs.
Hyundai sales rose just 0.4 percent, but it was enough
to set a record for monthly sales.
Ford and Fiat Chrysler posted their best March num-
bers in a decade. General Motors, which has been
cutting sales to rental car companies, said its retail
sales to individual buyers rose 6 percent.
Volkswagen, still mired in an emissions cheating scan-
dal, saw its sales tumble 10 percent.
Some analysts said there were troubling signs for au-
tomakers beneath the numbers. Last month had two
more selling days than a year ago, and spending on
discounts is on the rise.
Discounts, while good for new-car buyers, cut profits
and hurt used car values. The auto pricing site True-
Car.com said automakers averaged just over $3,000
in discounts per vehicle in March, up more than 10
percent from a year ago.
