December Sales Up Slightly, 2013 Sales Total: 15.6 Million

TTAC Staff
by TTAC Staff

December sales of automobiles and light trucks in the U.S. were up slightly from last year, but failed to meet analysts’ predictions due to winter storms and some sales being pulled forward in a strong November. Nissan led gainers, up 11% while GM had the worst year to year performance, down 6%. Most automakers closed out the year with an increase.

The seasonally adjusted sales rate also came in below expectations. The SAAR fell in December to 15.4 million from November’s six-year high of 16.4 million. Last year’s SAAR for December was 15.2 million so it’s a slight improveent. Most analysts predicted a 15.6 million unit SAAR for the month. Overall, December sales were up 0.2% from last year and for the year deliveries were up 8% to a total of 15.6 million units, the best year since 2007. Car sales were up 4% while light truck sales rose 11% on the strength of CUV and large pickup sales. This is the 5th straight year of increased sales since the industry cratered at 10.4 million units in 2009.

Full table below

Chrysler and Hyundai were up 6% for the month, with Honda and Ford reporting gains of 2%. As mentioned, GM was down, as was Toyota, at -2%.

Every automaker fell short of analysts’ estimates for the month, with automakers reporting that incentives and promotions led to strong November sales, particularly late in the month, which decreased demand in December. Some brands started their year-end clearance and holiday sales before Thanksgiving this year. Wintry weather in parts of the country also affected showroom traffic.

At Toyota, sales at Lexus were up 14% while the corporate brand was down 5% as Camry, Corolla and Prius deliveries were all down. Slipping sales on the redesigned 2014 Corolla will not help the brand increase sales by 10% as they hoped for at the launch. For the year total Toyota Motor sales were up 7% to 2.24 million units.

Sales of Honda’s namesake brand were up 2% while Acura deliveries dropped by the same amount. While the Camry remained the best selling car in the U.S. for the year, the Accord edged it out by about 2,300 units in December. For the year, the CR-V became Honda’s third 300,000 unit/year model in the U.S. Those sales were boosted by a December incentive program that paid dealers $3,000 for every vehicle they sold about their Dec. 2012 total.

Ford had their best annual increase since 2010, 11%, with the Ford brand up by the same amount as Lincoln fell slightly, 1%.

Ford’s 2013 sales rose 11 percent, the biggest annual gain since 2010. The Ford division was up 11 percent, while Lincoln fell 1 percent. The Fusion, Fiesta and Escape set sales records for the year.

At GM the news wasn’t as cheery as all GM brands had year to year sales declines last month. Chevy was down 8%, Buick was off by 7%, GMC was minus 2% and Cadillac was off by 1% from it’s December 2012 sales, the first monthly decline in volume at GM’s luxury brand since Sept. of last year. GM’s fullsize pickups, newly introduced and a critical component of the company’s lineup were down, with the Chevrolet Silverado declining 16% and the GMC Sierra down 5%.

For the year, GM’s fortunes were better up 7%, led by Cadillac sales which were up 22%. Buick was up 14% on the year, GMC +9% and GM’s biggest volume brand, Chevrolet, increased their deliveries by 5%.

Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Toyota, and the VW Group joined GM in losing market share. Chrysler, Ford, Daimler and Nissan all gained market share.

Chrysler’s December results were mixed with strong light truck sales. The new Jeep Cherokee sold 15,038 units for the month, exceeding the popularity of the Wrangler. Ram pickup deliveries were up 11%. For the month truck sales at Chrysler were up 15% while passenger car deliveries were down 17% from 2012. Monthly sales were up 34% at Jeep, 17% at Ram, and +1% at Fiat, while the Dodge and Chrysler brands were down 9% and 21% respectively.

For 2013, Chrysler’s U.S. sales were up 9% to 1.8 million cars and trucks, with cars outselling trucks.

At other manufacturers, Hyundai’s U.S. sales were up 6% to slightly over 63,000 units, making 2013 a record year at 720,783 vehicles. The company said that its results were driven by strong sales of the Elantra compact and the Santa Fe SUV.

The Nissan brand, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Subaru, Land Rover and Porsche, joined Hyundai in having record years in the U.S.

Mitsubishi sales were up an impressive 56%, its third month in a row of double digit gains. For the year, sales were up 8% to 62,227.

Jessica Caldwell, a senior analyst at Edmunds.com, said, “Car shoppers responded overwhelmingly to the advertised holiday lease deals and they turned out the highest single-month lease rate — 27.5 percent — on record. Amazingly, almost half of all European branded vehicles sold in December — including many of the most popular luxury brands — were leased.”

Bill Fay, Toyota division group vice president and general manager, said, “The auto industry was a consistent bright spot in the economic recovery throughout 2013. We expect the economy will continue to gain strength in 2014, with car sales rising to pre-recession levels.”

According to TrueCar.com average incentives rose 4 percent to $2,676 in December from December 2012. Joining the incentives in spurring sales have been low interest rates, pent-up demand, increasing household wealth and a number of new models going on sale. In terms of segments, big pickups, large and compact crossovers, large and premium SUVs, and compact luxury cars all had strong sales for the year.

Analysts and the car companies mostly expect U.S. auto sales to rise some more in 2014 but at a slower rate of increase.

Paul Taylor, an independent analyst and former chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association, said, “2013 was consistent with modest economic growth aided by very low interest rates for consumers of new cars. This year will feature stronger growth and continued low interest rates for new car loans, even as longer-term mortgage rates start to increase.” He predicts 2014 will be a 16.2 million unit year, with sales growing at least 3%.

AutomakerDec. 2013Dec. 2012Pct. chng.12 month


201312 month


2012Pct. chng. BMW division37,38937,3990%309,280281,46010% Mini6,5926,4562%66,50266,1231% Rolls-Royce84805%1,0089496%BMW Group44,06543,9350%376,790348,5328% Chrysler Division20,27025,513–21%302,492307,967–2% Dodge47,68952,391–9%596,343524,98914% Dodge/Ram83,71783,2761%964,186825,91717% Fiat3,7453,7071%43,23643,772–1% Jeep53,27539,87134%490,454474,1313% Ram36,02830,88517%367,843300,92822%Chrysler Group161,007152,3676%1,800,3681,651,7879% Maybach–5–100%650–88% Mercedes-Benz35,83530,37818%334,344295,01313% Smart USA855996–14%9,26410,009–7%Daimler AG36,69031,37917%343,614305,07213% Ford division208,608205,5182%2,403,5422,160,85911% Lincoln7,9847,3848%81,69482,150–1%Ford Motor Co.216,592212,9022%2,485,2362,243,00911% Buick15,37916,473–7%205,509180,40814% Cadillac18,16518,248–1%182,543149,78222% Chevrolet153,493167,091–8%1,947,1251,851,6465% GMC43,12043,921–2%450,901413,8819%General Motors230,157245,733–6%2,786,0782,595,7177% Acura15,75116,034–2%165,436156,2166% Honda Division119,504116,7402%1,359,8761,266,5697%Honda (American)135,255132,7742%1,525,3121,422,7857% Hyundai division63,00559,4356%720,783703,0073% Kia33,63139,178–14%535,179557,599–4%Hyundai Group96,63698,613–2%1,255,9621,260,6060% Jaguar1,5441,04947%16,95212,01141% Land Rover5,7645,17411%50,01043,66415%Jaguar Land Rover7,3086,22317%66,96255,67520%Maserati1,053333216%4,7682,73075%Mazda22,96427,253–16%283,947277,0443%Mitsubishi6,4234,11356%62,22757,7908% Infiniti13,23212,6275%116,455119,877–3% Nissan Division96,52686,66311%1,131,9651,021,77911%Nissan109,75899,29011%1,248,4201,141,6569%Subaru40,17236,65310%424,683336,44126%Suzuki*–1,945–100%5,94625,357–77% Lexus34,75730,60714%273,847244,16612% Scion4,3235,522–22%68,32173,505–7% Toyota division151,763158,014–4%1,893,8741,764,8337% Toyota/Scion156,086163,536–5%1,962,1951,838,3387%Toyota190,843194,143–2%2,236,0422,082,5047% Audi17,01314,84115%158,061139,31014% Bentley35023748%2,8722,31524% Lamborghini*46445%5525206% Porsche3,2462,95210%42,32335,04321% VW division34,01544,005–23%407,704438,133–7%Volkswagen54,67062,079–12%611,512615,321–1%Volvo Cars NA4,8886,150–21%61,23368,117–10%Other**2532472%3,0362,9493%TOTAL1,358,7341,356,1320%15,582,13614,493,0928%

Source: Automotive News Data Center

TTAC Staff
TTAC Staff

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  • Golden2husky Golden2husky on Jan 05, 2014

    .....Amazingly, almost half of all European branded vehicles sold in December — including many of the most popular luxury brands — were leased.... Really? That is expected. The bigger question is how many of those high end leases are to individuals as opposed to companies? I'll bet the farm less than half....

  • Joemoore Joemoore on Jan 05, 2014

    Nice to see a few people have the money to buy those expensive cars. Jump on luxury auto sales is remarkable. Maybe many people were putting off to buy a new automobile and they cannot put it off anymore. I know the feeling of being scared to go out with your car because you are worried that it will breakdown and you don't have the money to fix it. Thankfully, I know the feeling of having a nice, reliable car as well. I am happy for all those people who managed to buy a new ride just in time for 2014.

  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
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