How Excited Should Investors Really Be After Strong March Auto Sales?

Everyone loves a good surprise, and what better way for the U.S. auto industry to kick off spring than with a surprising 6.4% sales increase over the prior year? It was a better-than-expected result and the industry's largest year-over-year sales gain since February of 2016. After over a year of pessimism, plateauing sales, and plummeting passenger car sales, investors can be forgiven for over-hyping last month's result, but how strong was it really?

Let's dig into some of the highlights to see why investors should temper expectations going forward.