Edmunds.com Forecasts March Auto Sales at 1.52 Million Units

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--March 27, 2006--This month's new vehicle sales (including fleet sales) are expected to be 1.52 million units, a three percent decrease from March 2005 and a 21 percent increase from February 2006, according to Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information. This equates to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 16.3 million units.

"The market is healthy," said Jesse Toprak, Executive Director of Industry Analysis for Edmunds.com. "The year-over-year decline is mainly because of the exceptional sales volume we experienced last March."

The combined monthly U.S. market share for domestic nameplates is estimated to be 57.2 percent in March, down from 59.3 percent in March 2005 and down slightly from 57.8 percent in February 2006.

Edmunds.com predicts Chrysler will sell 217,000 units in March, up two percent compared to March 2005 and up 14 percent compared to February 2006. This would result in a new car market share of 14.3 percent for Chrysler in March, up from 13.5 percent in March 2005 but down from 15.1 percent in February 2006.

Edmunds.com predicts Ford will sell 282,000 units in March, down five percent compared to March 2005 and up 25 percent compared to February 2006. This would result in a market share of 18.0 percent of new car sales in March for Ford, down from 19.1 percent in March 2005 and 19.0 percent in February 2006.

Edmunds.com predicts General Motors will sell 373,000 units in March, down 11 percent compared to March 2005 and up 27 percent compared to February 2006. GM's market share is expected to be 23.4 percent of new vehicle sales in March, down from 26.7 percent in March 2005 and 23.7 percent in February 2006.

Edmunds.com predicts Honda will sell 135,000 units in March, up nearly five percent compared with March 2005 and up 26 percent from February 2006. Its market share is expected to be 8.8 percent in March, up from 8.2 percent in March 2005 and 8.5 percent in February 2006.

Edmunds.com predicts Nissan will sell 102,000 units in March, down about four percent compared to March 2005 and up 21 percent from February 2006. Nissan's market share is expected to be 6.7 percent, unchanged from March 2005 and February 2006.

Edmunds.com predicts Toyota will sell 209,000 units in March, up three percent compared to March 2005 and up 26 percent compared to February 2006. Toyota's market share is expected to be 13.7 percent in March, up from 12.9 percent in February and 13.1 percent in March 2005.

About Edmunds.com, Inc.

Edmunds.com is the premier online resource for automotive information. Its comprehensive set of data, tools and services is generated by Edmunds.com Information Solutions and is licensed to third parties and used by over 15,000 car dealers including 98 of the 100 dealers named to the Ward's Dealer Business "e-Dealer 100" list. Perhaps the most popular consumer product, Edmunds.com True Market Value(R) pricing, is relied upon by millions of people seeking market-reflective valuations for new and used vehicles. The company also supplies content for the auto sections of NYTimes.com, AOL, CNN.com and About.com; provides weekly data to Automotive News; and delivers monthly data reports to Wall Street analysts. In addition, Edmunds.com publishes Inside Line (www.insideline.com), a free high-speed online magazine for auto enthusiasts, and CarSpace (http://www.carspace.com), an automotive lifestyle social networking Web site for anyone with an interest in automobiles. Edmunds.com was named "Best Car Research Site" by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by consumers as the "Most Useful Web Site" according to every J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Study(SM), was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites by The Wall Street Journal and was rated No. 1 in Keynote's study of third-party automotive Web sites. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit.