Top 10 Worst-Selling Cars In America - December 2011

Porsche Cayman R

Factored out three ways, these were America's worst-selling cars in December 2011. Numerous cars in the first list of Worst Sellers By Percentage Decline create no surprise by their presence. 

The Saab 9-3 and 9-5 come from a company that's mostly/definitely/completely/probably dead. The two Lexus sedans and two Acuras make frequent appearances here. 

In the light of the better-in-almost-every-way Kia Soul, the Nissan Cube is proving to be less and less desirable. Meanwhile, most Mercedes-Benz CL-Class customers would veer towards the SLS AMG or the newer BMW 6-Series.

In the second list, one which groups non-premium cars (a hard to define category) by volume, the barely-marketed Hyundai Azera and Suzuki Equator present themselves as likely candidates every month. The Mitsubishi i MiEV and Chevrolet Caprice PPV stand little chance of escaping. Scion's iQ is brand new to market, so is the Buick Verano.

The third list takes into account vehicle of all types and groups them by volume. Here, the ultra-exclusive Lexus LFA stands no chance of escaping top spot. The 9-4X takes over from Saab's 9-3 and 9-5. Apart from the fast-declining Porsche Boxster and Cayman, most cars here either belong or, because of their niche status, will always struggle to escape worst seller status.

Last month's version of this American worst-selling cars post is here. The more exciting 2011 year end results are up now, as well. Care to alter the rules and form your own worst selling cars list for December 2011? Use the dropdown menu at the top right of this page or the Sales Stats page to source the sales data for every model on sale, tally them up, and submit your list through the About GCBC section or in the comments.

Rank	Worst-Selling Car  By Percentage Decline	% Drop	December 2011	December 2010
#1	Saab 9-3	- 83.2%	137	815
#2	Lexus HS250h	- 75.6%	274	1121
#3	Lexus GS	- 75.0%	194	777
#4	Porsche Boxster	- 72.3%	38	137
#5	Acura ZDX	- 66.0%	86	253
#6	Acura RL	- 64.5%	50	141
#7	Nissan Cube	- 62.6%	406	1085
#8	Saab 9-5	- 61.4%	100	259
#9	Mercedes-Benz CL-Class	- 59.0%	57	139
#10	Honda Insight	- 57.8%	690	1637

Rank	Worst-Selling  Non-Premium Car  By Volume	December 2011	December 2010	% Change
#1	Hyundai Azera	18	162	- 88.9%
#2	Mitsubishi i MiEV	76	-----	-----
#3	Chevrolet Caprice PPV	99	-----	-----
#4	Suzuki Equator	164	131	+ 25.2%
#5	Scion iQ	248	-----	-----
#6	Buick Verano	261	-----	-----
#7	Subaru Tribeca	324	227	+ 42.7%
#8	Mazda MX-5 Miata	339	352	- 3.7%
#9	Nissan Cube	406	1085	- 62.6%
#10	Volkswagen Eos	419	359	- 16.7%

Rank	Worst-Selling Car  By Volume (All Vehicles)	December 2011	December 2010	% Change
#1	Lexus LFA	10	-----	-----
#2	Hyundai Azera	18	162	- 88.9%
#3	Saab 9-4X	33	-----	-----
#4	Nissan GT-R	35	38	- 7.9%
#5	Porsche Boxster	38	137	- 72.3%
#6	Acura RL	50	141	- 64.5%
#7	Mercedes-Benz G-Class	55	84	- 34.5%
#8	Porsche Cayman	67	112	- 40.2%
#9	Mitsubishi i MiEV	76	-----	-----
T10	Acura ZDX	86	253	- 66.0%
T10	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG	86	48	+ 79.2%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC 
Vehicle must have been on sale in December, must not have been officially cancelled by its manufacturer, and must have been showcased on manufacturer's website through the end of December.  

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Worst-Selling Vehicles In America - December 2012
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Top 10 Worst-Selling Cars In America - November 2011
Top 10 Worst-Selling Cars In America - October 2011
Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - December 2011

Top 10 Worst-Selling Cars In Canada - September 2011

Vehicles completely lacking in sales don't normally make appearances on GoodCarBadCar.net's Worst Seller lists. Most manufacturers of hugely expensive cars don't release monthly sales stats for individual models. Lacking the context of cars like the Ferrari 458 Italia or Aston Martin DBS, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG's September 2011 shortcomings sounds worse than it was. Automotive News estimates that Ferrari sold 18 cars in September and Lamborghini sold six.

Canada's new vehicle market is small and somewhat limited in its desire for expensive cars. Ask the average Canadian how many $200,000 Mercedes-Benz supercars are sold in this country each month and their guess will be closer to zero than the 28 SLS AMGs Mercedes-Benz Canada sold in April. Year-over-year, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG sales disappeared in September, a full 100% decline, from 12 last year to zero this year. Ranked by the same standard - year-over-year percentage change - Canada's nine other worst-selling vehicles are in the first table below. 

As always, vehicles not currently featured on their respective automaker's Canadian website, officially cancelled before the beginning of September, or out of production aren't eligible.

BY PERCENTAGE DECLINE

Rank	Vehicle	% Drop	September 2011
#1	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG	-100.0	0
#2	Honda Insight	-88.6	8
#3	Acura ZDX	-84.8	14
#4	Nissan Cube	-83.7	53
#5	Nissan Xterra	-82.2	28
#6	Lexus HS250h	-77.1	16
#7	Kia Borrego	-70.4	8
#8	Dodge Caliber	-70.0	97
#9	Lexus GS	-66.7	6
#10	Dodge Challenger	-66.4	89

When non-premium/not-intended-to-be-exclusive vehicles are ranked by their monthly Canadian sales volume, some awfully small numbers are revealed. Not unexpectedly, the police-only Chevrolet Caprice found just two buyers in its first month of availability in Canada. Discount that car from the race and the Honda Insight is Canada's worst-selling car. Except, even the Insight has become a special-order car in Canada. The Kia Borrego and Nissan LEAF are also limited-production models, although the reason for that is because there's limited desirability. 

But the Nissan Xterra? Sales of Nissan's off-roader slid 82% to just 28 in September 2011. The Honda CR-Z hybrid was down 57% to 30, absolutely crushed by the Hyundai Veloster's 568 sales. The CR-Z costs approximately $4500 more than the Veloster, is fitted with only two seats, and when equipped with a manual transmission, isn't as fuel efficient on the highway.

BY VOLUME

Rank	Non-Premium Vehicle	September  2011	Year-To-Date
#1	Chevrolet Caprice	2	2
T2	Honda Insight	8	228
T2	Kia Borrego	8	116
#4	Nissan LEAF	17	42
#5	Nissan Xterra	28	1051
#6	Honda CR-Z	30	468
#7	Dodge Nitro	32	432
#8	Nissan 370Z	33	405
#9	Toyota Sequoia	37	526
#10	Volkswagen Eos	38	621

When all vehicles are taken into account, the $198,000 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is obviously labelled as the worst-selling car in Canada. Skipping the Chevrolet Caprice again, two Saabs stand out as the true losers. Despite the 9-5s handsome shape, Saab's homeland troubles are too much for dealers (and customers) to overcome. 

Acura RL sales were actually vastly improved in September. During the equivalent period of last year, Acura Canada didn't sell a single RL sedan. This year there were four RL buyers. Lexus GS sales will surely pick up once the already-revealed fourth-generation car arrives. Lexus LX sales slid 38% in September. Toyota Canada sold more Land Cruisers than Lexus LX570s last month even though the Land Cruiser isn't a part of Toyota's official Canadian fleet. September sales of the Lexus LS fell 44%. The Porsche Boxster was up 200% last month; Porsche Cayman sales jumped 300% to 16.

BY VOLUME - ALL VEHICLES

Rank	Vehicle  (All-Inclusive)	September 2011	Year-To- Date
#1	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG	0	84
#2	Chevrolet Caprice	2	2
T3	Saab 9-3	3	93
T3	Saab 9-5	3	45
#5	Acura RL	4	48
#6	Lexus GS	6	99
T7	Honda Insight	8	70
T7	Kia Borrego	8	116
T7	Lexus LX570	8	89
T10	Porsche Boxster	9	142
T10	Lexus LS	9	109

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net

Top 10 Worst-Selling Vehicles In Canada - September 2012
Top 10 Worst-Selling Vehicles In Canada - October 2011
Top 10 Worst-Selling Cars In Canada - August 2011

Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In Canada - September 2011

Auto Brand Market Share In Canada - September 2011

Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In Canada - September 2011

Saab Is America's Most Improved Automaker In 2011

U.S. auto sales haven't been as strong of late as automakers and analysts had predicted, but compared with last year, the first eight months of 2011 have been far more downright easy to swallow. The American auto market is up 10.5% through August; August itself was up 7.5%. July sales only improved by 0.9%.

37 brands are listed in the table below, a list that sees automakers ranked by their year-over-year improvements and declines. One of those brands, Mercury, no longer exists. Of the 36 remaining brands, one quarter have suffered falling sales volumes this year. That's the glass half-empty approach, though.

Glass half-full: 75% of automakers competing in the United States have enjoyed rising sales volumes in 2011. It wasn't going to be hard for Saab to improve on last year's paltry total, so to see the Swedes way ahead of the pack (despite their struggle to survive) isn't all that surprising. By volume, Saab has only gained 2719 new sales.

Mitsubishi has been more of a surprise and is significantly more revitalized than Saab. The company's 65% jump stands in stark contrast to compatriots like Toyota and it's 7% drop. Jeep leads American brands with 50% gains. Kia has out-performed its parent brand, Hyundai, with a 39.4% boost. Between the two Korean brands there have been 171,215 extra sales this year. Hyundai ranks twelfth on this list with its 21% improvement, equal to 77,372 sales, or 45.2% of Hyundai-Kia's new-found volume. 

As a conglomerate, Hyundai-Kia leads the way, as you'll see at the bottom of the table. Toyota-Lexus-Scion was down 8% as a group; Scion being the only part of the trio to report improved volume.

Go ahead and scan the table to find out how auto sales this year compare with auto sales last year on a brand-by-brand basis. Bold indicates premium brands. We've skipped the red font used in Auto Sales By Brand posts which normally indicates falling sales because, well, there's a pretty obvious switch right after Fiat, sales of which didn't occur at all in 2010. 

Check out more detailed monthly U.S. versions and associated market share charts here. Also take note of the fact that, purely on volume terms, Ford was America's most improved automaker over the first eight months of 2011.

Rank	Automaker	August 2011  YTD	YTD % Change
#1	Saab	4218	+181.4
#2	Mitsubishi	60,072	+64.9
#3	Jeep	268,228	+49.9
#4	Kia	331,796	+39.4
#5	Bentley	1109	+34.4
#6	Porsche	20,494	+30.4
#7	GMC	261,740	+28.0
#8	Volvo	47,113	+27.4
#9	Mini	37,636	+26.7
#10	Buick	126,493	+25.1
#11	Maserati	1507	+23.6
#12	Hyundai	440,863	+21.3
#13	Volkswagen	208,423	+20.7
#14	Suzuki	18,258	+19.1
#15	Ford	1,366,780	+18.3
#16	Dodge/Ram	468,769	+17.1
#17	Nissan	617,413	+15.9
#18	Land Rover	22,910	+15.7
#19	Audi	75,256	+15.0
#20	Chevrolet	1,206,322	+14.6
#21	Scion	33,769	+13.8
#22	BMW	155,929	+12.0
#23	Mercedes-Benz	159,082	+9.9
#24	Cadillac	100,449	+8.7
#25	Mazda	165,794	+6.1
#26	Lincoln	57,823	+3.7
#27	Subaru	174,616	+1.4
#28	Fiat	11,088	-----
#29	Infiniti	63,702	-4.2
#30	Honda	691,129	-5.2
#31	Chrysler	142,782	-5.9
#32	Jaguar	8204	-6.6
#33	Toyota	918,651	-7.1
#34	Acura	79,136	-7.6
#35	Lexus	120,652	-17.1
#36	smart	3288	-24.5
#37	Mercury	248	-99.4
-----	-------------------------	---------------	-----------------
#1	Hyundai-Kia	772,659	+28.5
#2	Chrysler-Fiat Group	883,584	+22.5
#3	Volkswagen Group  (VW, Audi, Bentley)	284,788	+19.2
#4	General Motors	1,695,004	+15.9
#5	BMW Group	193,793	+14.5
#6	Nissan N.A.	681,115	+13.6
#7	Daimler AG	162,406	+8.9
#8	Ford Motor Company	1,424,851	+8.8
#9	American Honda	770,265	-5.5
#10	Toyota  Motor Corporation	1,073,072	-7.8

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Ford Is America's Most Improved Automaker In 2011
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