Amid the trend of slumping new car sales since the pandemic and sky-rocketing inflation, the lowly fleet car is helping domestic automakers stay in the black.
According to Cox Automotive, fleet sales accounted for 2.7 million cars sold in 2023, a 34% rise over the previous year. Fleet car sales actually outperformed all other new car sales categories for the first time in recent memory.
One might think this is odd, since fleet cars are generally considered to be stripped down, gas powered vehicles used primarily as rental cars and taxi cabs. Thanks to the rise of Uber and Lyft, seeing an actual Yellow taxi on the road these days is about as rare as finding a hen’s tooth.
However, rental car companies have found out the hard way that electric vehicles are not what customers want when they rent a vehicle. Also, due to supply shortages causing the price of new cars to soar, individual consumers are buying used fleet vehicles, meaning companies that sell off their existing inventory need to replace them.
Generally speaking, a fleet car is not going to have a lot of the amenities of the showroom or lot cars, but many are built with heavy duty suspensions along with alternators and other vital equipment parts that are designed to reach higher than normal accrued mileage.
According to Lending Tree, fleet cars are generally maintained better than the average vehicle and so they tend to have longer lives on average.
One interesting story from the early 1980s shows how even the lowliest of fleet cars can turn around and find themselves considered classics.
In 1981, General Motors made a deal with Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi government to provide 25,000 G-body Chevy Malibu sedans for use as taxis. According to The Drive, GM was able to get around the U.S. government’s ban on sales to Iraq by going through its Canadian division.
The Canadian government even got in on the action and guaranteed the financial aspects of the sale; therefore, should Hussein back out of the deal at the last minute, the Canadian government would be left holding the keys to the fleet.
And that is exactly what happened.
According to The Drive, GM sent the first installment of 13,000 vehicles via the Port of Halifax to the desert nation. The vehicles had an enhanced coolant system and featured a three-speed manual transmission tuned with extra torque for desert driving.
This all happened just as Iraq was building up for war with neighboring Iran. History is murky on what happened next; the Iraqis claimed the Malibus were all lemons and that the transmissions could not handle the intense desert heat.
Another problem was that Iraq had few paved roads and so sand could easily find its way into the transmissions, carburetors and other moving parts.
At the time, GM claimed the cars were just fine and blamed the Iraqis, stating that the country had spent so much money gearing up for war that it ran out of funds. Never-the-less, Canada found itself the proud owner of roughly 12,000 unsold “Iraqibus.”
In an effort to curb their losses, the Canadians put the cars up for sale at a huge discount, selling them for $16,000 in today’s money. Before long, the lot at the Port of Halifax was empty.
Canadian buyers loved the cars; they were designed for the desert, but the advanced coolant systems really handled well in Arctic climes and the three-speed tranny paired with the 229 cubic inch six-cylinder rated at 110 hp gave the lightweight car above average zip.
The Iraqibu sold so well that GM was forced to reopen production to meet the demand. The cars are now considered collectors items according to Curbside Classics.
Sadly, GM recently announced 2024 will be the last year of the Malibu; however, that is not a bad run for a marque that was introduced 60 years ago.
According to Lending Tree, anyone considering buying a modern fleet car for personal use should check the logs to make sure the vehicle has been maintained properly. If the car does not have a maintenance log, then steer clear!
See you on the road!!
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
