After German Primadonnas Submit, U.S. Light Vehicle Count Finally Official

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Finally, a day later, the two German primadonnas, Daimler and BMW, handed in their homework, and America can get on with its life, knowing that Americans bought 1,243,784 light vehicles in December. This brought annual sales in the U.S. to the official total of 12,778,885 units, up 10 percent over 2010.

Now for the primadonnas. Executives at both German companies counted cars as if their careers depend on who’s on first. When they finally handed in their paperwork a day late, to everybody’s surprise, BMW squeaked by Mercedes by 2,715 units and a total of 247,907 bimmers for the year. That despite a sudden voracious appetite of American drivers for the Mercedes brand, which rose 28 percent to 25,701 in December, for an annual total of 245,192.

In the luxury races, you must eliminate BMW Minis, and on the Daimler side Smart and Mercedes Sprinter vans.

Two days ago, Edmunds still had different numbers and said that “Mercedes-Benz is expected to pull ahead to finish the year over BMW by about 1,100 vehicles.”

For the first time, BMW can call itself America’s king of luxury. But is that an excuse for letting a whole nation wait a day?

December U.S. Light Vehicle Sales

(Complete table)

AutomakerDec. 2011Dec. 2010Pct. chng.12 month


201112 month


2010Pct. chng.BMW Group32,57527,64318%305,766266,26915% BMW division26,83423,28015%247,907220,11313% Mini5,7114,32032%57,51145,64426% Rolls-Royce3043–30%348512–32%BMW Group32,57527,64318%305,766266,26915%Chrysler Group138,019100,70237%1,369,1141,085,21126% Chrysler Division23,97413,13283%221,346197,44612% Dodge41,54832,39028%451,040383,67518% Dodge/Ram68,14356,66020%708,650596,62719% Fiat2,325––%19,769––% Jeep43,57730,91041%419,349291,13844% Ram26,59524,27010%257,610212,95221%Chrysler Group138,019100,70237%1,369,1141,085,21126%Daimler AG28,00922,04427%267,016230,93416% Maybach35–40%3963–38% Mercedes-Benz27,29621,46927%261,769224,94416% Smart USA71057025%5,2085,927–12%Daimler AG28,00922,04427%267,016230,93416% Ford Motor Co. 209,447190,19110%2,143,1011,964,0599% Ford division201,044173,73816%2,057,2101,752,51117% Ford/Lincoln/Mercury209,447190,19110%2,143,1011,931,53411% Lincoln8,4038,0604%85,64385,8280% Mercury–8,393–100%24893,195100% Volvo–––%–32,525–100%Ford Motor Co.209,447190,19110%2,143,1011,964,0599%General Motors234,351224,1475%2,503,7972,211,69913% Buick14,97417,095–12%177,633155,38914% Cadillac16,25916,718–3%152,389146,9254% Chevrolet161,158147,9389%1,775,8021,563,88114% GMC41,96042,1430%397,973333,20419% Hummer–38–100%–3,812–100% Pontiac–130–100%–1,182–100% Saab–––%–608–100% Saturn–85–100%–6,698–100%General Motors234,351224,1475%2,503,7972,211,69913%Honda (American)105,230129,616–19%1,147,2851,230,480–7% Acura13,12915,489–15%123,299133,606–8% Honda Division92,101114,127–19%1,023,9861,096,874–7%Honda (American)105,230129,616–19%1,147,2851,230,480–7%Hyundai Group94,15575,24625%1,131,183894,49627% Hyundai division50,76544,80213%645,691538,22820% Kia43,39030,44443%485,492356,26836%Hyundai Group94,15575,24625%1,131,183894,49627%Jaguar Land Rover5,8804,87521%50,37545,20411% Jaguar1,1371,180–4%12,27613,340–8% Land Rover4,7433,69528%38,09931,86420%Jaguar Land Rover5,8804,87521%50,37545,20411%Maserati23818032%2,3211,89722%Maserati23818032%2,3211,89722%Mazda22,35321,4794%250,426229,5669%Mazda22,35321,4794%250,426229,5669%Mitsubishi5,0324,8743%79,02055,68342%Mitsubishi5,0324,8743%79,02055,68342%Nissan100,92793,7308%1,042,534908,57015% Infiniti10,99012,502–12%98,461103,411–5% Nissan Division89,93781,22811%944,073805,15917%Nissan100,92793,7308%1,042,534908,57015%Porsche1,8342,567–29%29,02325,32015%Porsche1,8342,567–29%29,02325,32015%Saab Cars North America2701,074–75%5,6104,83816%Saab Cars North America2701,074–75%5,6104,83816%Subaru33,70126,69426%266,989263,8201%Subaru33,70126,69426%266,989263,8201%Suzuki2,5652,647–3%26,61823,99411%Suzuki2,5652,647–3%26,61823,99411%Toyota178,131177,4880%1,644,6601,763,595–7% Lexus25,35527,560–8%198,552229,329–13% Scion4,1593,9565%49,27145,6788% Toyota division148,617145,9722%1,396,8371,488,588–6% Toyota/Scion152,776149,9282%1,446,1081,534,266–6%Toyota178,131177,4880%1,644,6601,763,595–7%Volkswagen45,47434,61031%443,840359,88923% Audi12,65510,54620%117,561101,62916% Bentley31719761%1,8771,43031% VW division32,50223,86736%324,402256,83026%Volkswagen45,47434,61031%443,840359,88923%Volvo Cars NA5,3424,75612%67,24021,423214%Volvo Cars NA5,3424,75612%67,24021,423214%Other (estimate)2512433%2,9672,8972%TOTAL1,243,7841,144,8069%12,778,88511,589,84410%

Data courtesy Automotive News [sub].

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Alwaysinthecar Alwaysinthecar on Jan 06, 2012

    In the copy you say BMW sold 247,907. And that's what the chart says, too. Then you said that Daimler sold 245,192 Mercedes (although other auto industry sites say 245,231 for Mercedes and so does Reuters.) But the chart says Daimler sold 261,769 Mercedes. The chart separates Mini and Smart but doesn't separate out Sprinter. Did Daimler then sell 16,577 Sprinters in the USA in 2011? But the other sites (and Reuters) say that the total for Daimler (Smart and Sprinter included) was 254,460 for all Daimler AG/MBUSA sales. The 254,460 sounds more plausible given the figures for Smart and the normally low sales of Sprinters in the US (mostly ambulances.) You have a figure of 267,016 for all Daimler AG/MBUSA sales. I think your chart and your copy is incorrect for Daimler.

    • See 1 previous
    • Alwaysinthecar Alwaysinthecar on Jan 06, 2012

      @Bertel Schmitt That's a lot of Sprinters. I wonder what pumped it up to 93.7%? Some big fleet contract(?) Reuters has reported a different number than Bloomberg for Mercedes (245,231) which of course isn't much to make any difference but that number is now being utilized by news media who use Reuters' services.

  • Tallnikita Tallnikita on Jan 06, 2012

    yeah, what's up with Sprinter? I personally think they are cool but the price is soo high and read a lot of negative stuff on your site. The drifting video is hilarious!

  • Joe This is called a man in the middle attack and has been around for years. You can fall for this in a Starbucks as easily as when you’re charging your car. Nothing new here…
  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
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