December 2012 Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America

There's nothing like the holiday season to put you in the mood to buy iPods, chocolate, and... pickup trucks? America's five best-selling trucks, which appear on this 30 best-selling vehicles list in first, second, fifth, 18th, and 25th spots, all had their best sales months of 2012 in December. As far as GoodCarBadCar's monthly records go (three full years), all of those trucks had their best sales month in memory in December 2012. 

GCBC covered the whole pickup truck sector last night, and there are links to those historical monthly and yearly sales figures at the best-selling trucks post. But while Americans did enjoy purchasing or leasing trucks in December, purchases which were often made with huge savings, the Ford F-Series and Chevrolet Silverado weren't the only vehicles Americans registered in December 2012. For the second consecutive month, the Honda Civic was America's best-selling car. Civic sales jumped 61% year-over-year. 6.5% of all the new vehicles sold in the United States in December were either Honda Civics, Accords, or CR-Vs.

All 266 Vehicles Ranked By 2012 Year End U.S. Sales

Volkswagen sold 15,661 Jettas in December 2012. Jetta SportWagen sales jumped 28% to 2559 units last month. Volkswagen USA's Passat actually outsold the Jetta sedan by 1360 units.

Click Market Share Chart For Larger View

As more evidence that year-over-year comparisons aren't always the most informative statistic, consider the 29th-best-selling vehicle in America in December 2012. Subaru Outback sales ended the year up 13% compared with 2011, yet December results produced a 10% decline compared to December 2011. Bad news, a downward trend, disappointing for Subie fans? 

Not at all. December was the Outback's best U.S. sales month this year and only ended up in the red because December 2011 was outrageously good. Sales at this point last year were up 31%. Subaru sold 13,148 more Outbacks this year than last, and fully 10.3% of the Outbacks Subaru sold in America in 2012 left dealerships in December.

As always, use the dropdown menu at GCBC's Sales Stats home (non-mobile users can find the same dropdown at the top right of this page) to find historical monthly and yearly sales figures for any make or model. These were the 30 best-selling vehicles in America in December 2012 - the 2012 year end 30 best-selling vehicles list was published here.

Updated at 6:57 PM AT on 01.07.2013 with full Prius figures

Rank	Vehicle	December 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Ford F-Series	68,787	+ 0.7%	645,316	+ 10.3%
#2	Chevrolet Silverado	50,699	+ 6.1%	418,312	+ 0.8%
#3	Honda Civic	33,118	+ 61.2%	317,909	+ 43.7%
#4	Toyota Camry	31,407	- 6.3%	404,886	+ 31.2%
#5	Dodge Ram	30,211	+ 16.1%	293,363	+ 19.9%
#6	Honda Accord	29,428	+ 66.6%	331,872	+ 40.8%
#7	Honda CR-V	25,733	+ 19.2%	281,652	+ 29.0%
#8	Toyota Corolla/Matrix	24,679	+ 17.5%	290,947	+ 21.1%
#9	Nissan Altima	23,966	- 7.7%	302,934	+ 12.6%
#10	Ford Focus	22,604	+ 58.3%	245,922	+ 40.0%
#11	Chevrolet Cruze	21,230	+ 27.3%	237,758	+ 2.6%
#12	Hyundai Sonata	20,826	+ 20.1%	230,605	+ 2.1%
#13	Ford Escape	20,131	- 21.3%	261,008	+ 2.6%
#14	Toyota Prius	20,040	+ 17.9%	236,659	+ 73.4%
	Prius Liftback	12,536	n/a	147,507	+ 15.2%
	Prius C	3151	-----	35,733	-----
	Prius V	2992	n/a	40,669	+ 384%
	Prius Plug-In	1361	-----	12,750	-----
#15	Chevrolet Equinox	19,551	+ 7.5%	218,621	+ 13.1%
#16	Ford Fusion	19,283	- 10.8%	241,263	- 2.7%
#17	Hyundai Elantra	19,024	+ 46.1%	202,034	+ 8.4%
#18	GMC Sierra	18,710	+ 13.4%	157,185	+ 5.4%
#19	Ford Explorer	17,244	+ 24.3%	164,207	+ 21.0%
#20	Jeep Grand Cherokee	17,121	- 1.3%	154,734	+ 21.1%
#21	Volkswagen Jetta	15,661	+ 8.6%	170,424	- 3.9%
#22	Volkswagen Passat	14,462	+ 110%	117,023	+ 412%
#23	Toyota RAV4	14,351	+ 1.7%	171,877	+ 30.0%
#24	Dodge Grand Caravan	14,160	+ 19.2%	141,468	+ 27.6%
#25	Toyota Tacoma	14,030	+ 15.6%	141,365	+ 27.7%
#26	Lexus RX	12,534	+ 8.9%	95,381	+ 15.5%
#27	Ford Edge	12,434	+ 3.0%	127,969	+ 5.1%
#28	Toyota Highlander	12,191	+ 3.5%	121,055	+ 19.6%
#29	Subaru Outback	12,072	- 10.1%	117,553	+ 12.6%
#30	Kia Optima	12,008	+ 12.2%	152,399	+ 80.2%

Source: Manufacturers
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales

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