The month of December is over which means that the United States’s automotive industry has released both its monthly sales figures and final year-to-date numbers. With the cold winter here and growing, the American people proved that there will always be room in their driveways for the pickup. With 682,181 total light duty trucks sold, the workhorse beat out both the car and SUV. It also was the best-selling segment for 2011 as 6,537,471 were purchased, an increase of 11.6 percent from 2010. There may have only been 647,943 midsize SUVs sold during 2011, but the segment did seen the largest year-to-date increase with a staggering 45.3 percent jump from 2010. It was the large car that didn’t fare as well with just 1,604 sold in December. Big and luxurious managed to only return a total of 68,211 units sold throughout the year, a 23.1 percent decrease.
For the umpteenth month in a row, the Ford F-Series pickup found itself at the top of the individual vehicle sales list. 68,278 trucks were sold in December, more than 20,000 compared to the second place finisher: the Chevrolet Silverado. The constant wins meant that year-to-date, the blue oval’s workhorse was the best-selling vehicle of 2011 with 584,917 units sold. Climbing back from its rough summer was the Toyota Camry which landed third for individual sales. Riding on the wave of success caused by the all-new 2012 model, 33,506 sedans were sold in December. Year-to-date sales were down however by 5.9 percent. Two other normal heavy sales hitters, the Honda Civic and Accord, were both down in sales. The Civic’s recent controversy concerning quality might be to blame as well as the Japan earthquake in March. Throughout 2011, Honda sold 221,235 Civics, down 15 percent compared to 2010. The Accord suffered just a tad more with a year-to-date drop of 16.6 percent. In December alone, the midsize sedan sold only 17,667 which was down 40 percent from the previous year.
Once again, the month of December was claimed by General Motors. The brand sold 234,531 cars and trucks during the month, a 4.6 percent increase. Ford wasn’t too far behind with 209,447 units sold and year-to-date, both companies were the only two to break the 2 million barrier. Toyota came back for December, landing at the third spot with 178,131 total vehicles sold. The early months of 2011 may have hurt the brand, but not by much as year-to-date sales dropped only 6.7 percent between 2011 and 2010. 1,644,661 Toyotas were purchased in America during 2011, a number that bested its main rival: Honda. December 2011 wasn’t too tremendous for the other Japanese powerhouse as 105,230 Hondas were sold; a figure down 18.8 percent from 2010. And of all the automakers in the U.S., it was Mitsubishi that saw the greatest year-to-date increase. With 79,020 vehicles sold, the humble brand jumped its sales by 41.9 percent from 2010 to 2011.
In the United States, 138 Ferraris were purchased during December 2011. Maserati beat the other Italian with 238 cars sold while Bently beat them both with 317 luxury limos sold. Throughout 2011, 2,322 new Maseratis found homes while Jaguar unloaded 12,276. During December, Maybach sold 4 cars, down 50 percent from 2010. All twelve months returned just 39 of the highly expensive land yacht. In total, there were 1,243,965 light duty cars and trucks sold during all 27 selling days of December. That figure was up 8.7 percent from 2010 and added to an overall increase of auto sales for the year. Jumping up 10.3 percent compared to 2010 was 2011 with 12,778,171 vehicles sold.
Source: WSJ
