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Without a doubt one of the most popular sport-utility vehicle nameplates of all time, the Chevrolet Suburban is certainly no best-seller. Even as the most hotly contested segments increasingly become smaller and more concentrated on fuel efficiency, the Chevrolet Suburban and its three GM cohorts continue to sell in hefty numbers.Here, as you'll see in the December 2010 chart below, the Suburban's 9.4% drop from December 2009 was covered up by the GMC Yukon XL's 31% increase. Chevy Tahoe sales fell, as well, but this was offset by the GMC Yukon's 16.6% bump. General Motors sold 18,175 big SUVs through Chevrolet and GMC outlets in December. All other mainstream brands combined to sell just 8300. For the record, Nissan Armada sales were up 37.8% in December.Amazingly, despite help from the 2011 Ford Explorer, Ford's trio of utility vehicles couldn't out-sell GM's Lambda platform in December. With 23,670 sales, the Edge, Explorer, and Flex combined to climb 15% from December 2009's total, but that fails to reflect the Explorer and Edge's great gains. Ford Flex sales dropped 51% last month.Smaller vehicles are where the true volume lies in non-luxury SUV sales. GM's Equinox and Terrain twins out-sold the whole jumbo SUV market in December. America's favourite utility vehicle, the Honda CR-V, was up 23.8% in December. Is size and fuel efficiency the only reason for the jumbo SUV's downfall and the rise of vehicles like the CR-V and Toyota RAV4? Consider this: the 2011 Ford Expedition starts at $37,070. For $10,000 less, the 2011 Kia Sorento has a V6 and all-wheel drive.Related From GoodCarBadCar.netSmall, Midsize & Large SUV Sales In America - 2010 Year EndSmall, Large, Midsize SUV U.S. Sales Charts - January 2011Small, Midsize & Large SUV Sales In America - November 2010Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - December 2010U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - December 2010
Eight vehicles which didn't exist or have a vehicle category in which to exist a decade or so ago combined for more than 14,000 U.S. sales in December. While some argue that the Cadillac SRX is a more direct competitor for the similarly-sized Lexus RX and Lincoln MKX, its price point - particularly now that the SRX range lacks a turbo version - pits it squarely against the European and Japanese competition. In so doing, the Cadillac SRX crushed its competition in December, just as it has month-after-month in recent times.In what was a boom market for many automakers in December, the Mercedes-Benz GLK350 and Land Rover LR2 both posted 29% sales drops. Audi Q5 sales were up 44%. SRX sales, as you would've guessed, were up nicely with a 17.6% gain.The aforementioned Lexus RX continues to be a popular Christmas gift. Sales bumped up from last December's 11,815 to 12,090 in December 2010. For perspective on the RX's success, consider the combined yearly sales total of the other two Lexus utility vehicles: the GX and LX sold 20,433 times in 2010. The 2011 Lexus RX350 starts at $38,375. The 2011 Cadillac SRX costs $4545 less.Related From GoodCarBadCar.netSmall Luxury & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In America - January 2011Small Luxury SUV & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In America - November 2010Small Luxury & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In America - 2010 Year EndTop 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - December 2010Large Luxury SUV Sales In America - December 2010
Thanks in small part to a new wagon version, Acura TSX sales were up 55.7% in December. But the 1467-unit bump from December 2009 includes just 126 wagons, so Acura clearly found a way to seriously improve TSX sedan sales, as well.Another vehicle nameplate with a new model helping out the percentage gains was the Infiniti G. The 2011 Infiniti G25, a member of 2011's The Good 12, helped boost G sedan sales from 3541 to 5596 in December. The sedan share alone tops the G's overall total from last year. When the G37 coupe's 1477 sales are added into the mix, Infiniti G sales were up 37% from last December.On the other side of the ledger, in preparation for the Volvo V60, V70 sales dropped 95.7% to 7. Lincoln MKS sales fell 33.2%. Jaguar XF sales were down 51.7%. Curiously - though at first thought you wouldn't believe the XF and 2011 Jaguar XJ were competitors - as the XF lost 524 sales from last December, the XJ gained 516. December 2010 sales figures may be interesting, but the 2010 Year End versions of these two Graphs will be out soon.Related From GoodCarBadCar.netSmall & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America - 2010 Year EndSmall/Entry Luxury & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America - January 2011Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America - November 2010U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - December 2010Small & Midsize Car Sales In America - December 2010
There are two possible angles to covering the Audi sports car sales story. Here's the first: the Audi R8 isn't supposed to sell in large volumes, and though you may argue that 119 sales doesn't constitute large volume status, you should remember that the R8 costs no less than $114,200 and sells in numbers similar to the whole 4-car Ferrari range. Here's the second angle: the Audi TT isn't supposed to be an ultra-mega-niche-volume car. Of course, the TT isn't the type of car that's going to sell with Toyota Camry-like figures, but the TT should at least seem competitive with the BMW Z4 and Mercedes-Benz SLK. Yet lately, it has not, as The Good Car Guy explained last month. On a final Audi-related note, you have the Audi A5 and S5, a shockingly effective combo that made successful cars like the Volkswagen GTI and Nissan 370Z seem unpopular in December 2010. U.S. sales of the A5 nearly reached 1500 in December, a spectacular level for a sporty German coupe priced from $36,900. So the TT's lack of current popularity has nothing to do with its four-ringed badge. U.S. pricing for the 2011 Audi TT starts at $38,300.In other news, Cadillac XLR sales dropped 97.7% to 1 in December 2010. Porsche Cayman sales were off 46%, down to 112. The Chevrolet Camaro topped the Ford Mustang in the final month of the year, as well.Related From GoodCarBadCar.netSporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - December & 2011 Year End2010 Year End Sales Of Sporty Cars & Premium Sporty CarsSporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - January 2011Sporty Car Sales & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - November 2010U.S. New Vehicle Market Share By Brand - 2010 Year End
The Chrysler Town & Country was the best-selling minivan in America in 2010. For the month of December, the Town & Country ceded its title to its partner in crime, the Dodge Grand Caravan. On the surface, you might say the Honda Odyssey narrowly missed out on becoming America's best-selling minivan by year end, but that would be missing the point in a fairly major way.Combine the sales of the Town & Country and Grand Caravan - as you should, they're the same van from the same company with different trim and grilles - and the Fiat-run Chrysler Group beat American Honda by almost 14,000 sales in December and nearly doubled the Odyssey in year end Sales Stats.What about The Good Car Guy's favourite, the Swagger Wagon, aka Toyota Sienna? Sienna sales were up, an unusual feat at Toyota USA in 2010, at a rate of 17%. But even if Odyssey sales had remained flat (which they didn't, Honda posted a gain of 8%), the Sienna's 17% increase wouldn't have been enough to overcome the Honda. For the record, the 2011 Chrysler Town & Country has a base price $30,995, Grand Caravans will go up from $24,995, the 2011 Toyota Sienna starts at $24,560, the redesigned 2011 Honda Odyssey is priced from $27,800. Nissan will take another crack at the North American minivan market with another the uniquely designed effort. The 2011 Nissan Quest has an MSRP of $27,750.Related From GoodCarBadCar.netMinivan Sales In America - December & 2011 Year EndMinivan Sales In America - January 2011Minivan Sales In America - November 2010U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - 2010 Year EndTop 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - 2010 Year End
Quite often, in analysing a GoodCarBadCar.net Sales Stats chart, attention is paid to the vehicles with impressive percentage increases or large overall volume. Today, at least with the three Graphs you see below, let's change things up.There's no denying now that the 2011 Ford Fiesta has caught on. It isn't yet able to conquer the much less-expensive Nissan Versa, and it's by no means the most popular small Ford, but the Fiesta is doing alright. Which leads one to wonder at the absolute lack of success found by the Mazda 2. Many believe it to be better looking; almost all reviewers say the Mazda is the better drive. So what's the deal? The same problem has afflicted Mazda as the Tribute has fought for sales in a class where the identical Ford Escape is part of the dominating class. American new car buyers generally ignore Mazda. Subaru sold some 30,000 more vehicles in 2010 in the USA.Moving up a category, take a look at the low sales of the Honda Insight. Though the Insight's volume compares unfavourably with just about any similarly-priced car, there is one specific vehicle which shines a light on Honda's failure. The 2011 Toyota Prius starts at $22,800, $4600 more than the 2011 Honda Insight, but the Honda's price advantage accomplishes nothing. By the time U.S. Toyota dealers are about to sell their tenth Prius, American Honda dealers find their first Insight buyer of the month. Now, the Chevrolet Impala is no rival for the Cadillac DTS. On opposite ends of the full-size spectrum, the two vehicles are placed in the same chart because there really is no proper place for a few of the vehicles in the Large Car Sales chart. But there's one other vehicle which really stands out from the pack with its awful performance, the Kia Amanti. True, the Amanti is technically a dead car, Kia's introducing the Cadenza soon. The Amanti, however, should've been dead before Kia ever let it get out to dealerships around the world. One of the ugliest vehicles to ever reach production, the Kia Amanti was a member of The Bad 8 until Kia made clear they'd kill it off. Here's the crazy thing: somebody bought a new Kia Amanti in December. Check out the charts below for all the info on small car sales, midsize car sales, and large car sales in America from December 2010.Related From GoodCarBadCar.netSmall, Midsize & Large Car Sales In America - 2010 Year EndSmall, Midsize & Large Car Sales In America - January 2011Small Car, Midsize Car & Large Car Sales In America - November 2010U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - December 2010Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - December 2010
Despite a terrific performance in which sales jumped 79%, the Chevrolet Equinox wasn't able to land America's best-selling SUV crown in December 2010. Just imagine how strong General Motors would look if The Good Car Guy would include the GMC Terrain's 9303 sales?The order of the top five didn't change from November 2010, as you can see in the status column. However, the Honda Pilot and Lexus RX made their way back into the Top 10 while the Nissan Rogue and Kia Sorento fell off the wagon. Keep in mind, Sorento sales were up 213% - it wasn't a bad month at Kia. Nissan Rogue sales were up 58.2%, not a horrendous result, either. Based on this listing of America's Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs, Americans clearly didn't show a conscious worry of rising fuel prices nor did they balk at vehicle purchases in a month when holiday spending is priority number one for many families. The top ten's total sales volume was up 25% from November 2010. Rank | SUV | Status | December 2010 | Last Month | December 2009 |
#1 | Honda CR-V | ↔ | 23,125 | 18,263 | 18,686 |
#2 | Chevrolet Equinox | ↔ | 22,764 | 15,387 | 12,711 |
#3 | Ford Escape | ↔ | 18,691 | 14,937 | 19,156 |
#4 | Toyota RAV4 | ↔ | 17,486 | 12,306 | 16,742 |
#5 | Jeep Grand Cherokee | ↔ | 12,753 | 10,984 | 4097 |
#6 | Lexus RX | ↑ | 12,090 | 7235 | 11,815 |
#7 | Ford Edge | ↓ | 11,292 | 10,025 | 9463 |
#8 | Toyota Highlander | ↑ | 11,271 | 9156 | 9442 |
#9 | Chevrolet Traverse | ↓ | 10,523 | 9954 | 8864 |
#10 | Honda Pilot | ↑ | 10,377 | 7593 | 9184 |
Related From GoodCarBadCar.netTop 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - 2010 Year EndTop 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - January 2011Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - November 2010Top 5 Best-Selling SUVs In America - December 2009Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - December 2010Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In America - December 2010U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - December 2010
There's a 2010 Year End edition of this post to get to, so we won't ramble long. Ford was victorious in December. Toyota remained in a podium position despite falling sales. Lexus was the best-selling luxury brand, also in spite of sales which fell from December 2009 totals. No brand posted a better year-over-year percentage increase than Chrysler's Ram division with sales up from 12,978 last December to 24,270 last month. Declining sales have become a hallmark for Daimler's smart brand, December was no different from the norm. Sales dropped 34% as smart came in at #35 on this list of U.S. Auto Sales By Brand for December 2010.A very small part of Korea's increases can be accounted for by the 2011 Hyundai Equus. Hyundai sold 196 of their big luxury sedans in December 2010, a small total to be sure but one that shouldn't be mocked in light of Hyundai's stature in America just a decade ago. Combined Genesis sedan and coupe sales were up 3% in December. Meanwhile, the 2011 Kia Optima is only starting to gain traction in the marketplace. Sales of the 2011 model were actually down compared with last year's figures. However, the new Optima was still competing with the cut-price 2010 Optima for sales. Together, sales were up 57%. Both Korean brands were among the ten best-selling auto brands in America in December. There were three Japanese brands, no European brands, and five Detroit-based companies. Rank | Automaker | December 2010 | % Change |
#1 | Ford | 174,523 | +9.7 |
#2 | Chevrolet | 147,960 | +9.1 |
#3 | Toyota | 145,972 | -6.1 |
#4 | Honda | 114,127 | +18.2 |
#5 | Nissan | 81,228 | +26.3 |
#6 | Hyundai | 44,802 | +32.6 |
#7 | GMC | 42,159 | +35 |
#8 | | | |
#9 | Jeep | 30,910 | +48.5 |
#10 | Kia | 30,444 | +44.6 |
#11 | Lexus | 27,560 | -3.5 |
#12 | Subaru | 26,694 | +15.7 |
#13 | Ram | 24,270 | +87 |
#14 | Volkswagen | 23,867 | +17.1 |
#15 | BMW | 23,280 | +15.7 |
#16 | Mazda | 21,479 | +17.7 |
#17 | Mercedes-Benz | 21,469 | +7.2 |
#18 | Buick | 17,095 | +39.7 |
#19 | Cadillac | 16,718 | +13.4 |
#20 | Acura | 15,489 | +46.5 |
#21 | Chrysler | 13,132 | -27.5 |
#22 | Infiniti | 12,502 | +37.3 |
#23 | Audi | 10,546 | +16.8 |
#24 | Mercury | 8393 | -10.5 |
#25 | Lincoln | 8060 | -23 |
#26 | Mitsubishi | 4874 | +11.9 |
#27 | Volvo | 4756 | -15.6 |
#28 | Mini | 4320 | +23.8 |
#29 | Scion | 3956 | +4.9 |
#30 | Land Rover | 3695 | +2.8 |
#31 | Suzuki | 2647 | +40.4 |
#32 | Porsche | 2567 | +21.2 |
#33 | Jaguar | 1180 | -5.3 |
#34 | Saab | 1074 | +23.7 |
#35 | smart | 570 | -34 |
#36 | Bentley | 197 | +19.4 |
#37 | Maserati | 180 | +56.5 |
Source: Automakers & Automotive News Data CenterRelated From GoodCarBadCar.netU.S. Auto Sales By Brand - January 2011U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - November 2010Top 10 Best-Selling Auto Brands In America - December 2009U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - 2010 Year EndAll 2010 Year End U.S. Auto Sales Stats
By the time we get to the end of December, a single month's statistics aren't as sought after as the year end numbers. Nevertheless, we do this for eleven months, so it would seem silly not to publish these figures once again.These were America's best-selling cars in December 2010. Despite a decent month overall at General Motors, not a single one of their cars made it onto this list. New since November are the Toyota Prius, Hyundai Elantra, and Volkswagen Jetta. Of course, the tenth spot owes much to the introduction of the less-expensive 2011 Volkswagen Jetta, even as the ninth-place winner can thank the debut of the 2011 Hyundai Elantra for some sales. All in all, these are popular cars, but not nearly as popular those at the top.Perennial leaders from Honda and Toyota moved around a bit since the November rundown, but little has changed except another small victory for the Honda Accord, a victory which comes at the exact same time as a loss on the year. Of special note in this listing: Hyundai Elantra sales shot up 127% over December 2009; Toyota Corolla/Matrix sales fell 35.5%. Rank | Car | Status | December 2010 | Last Month | December 2009 |
#1 | Honda Accord | ↑ | 32,381 | 19,025 | 28,238 |
#2 | Toyota Camry | ↓ | 31,223 | 20,737 | 34,946 |
#3 | Honda Civic | ↑ | 28,263 | 16,652 | 22,319 |
#4 | Nissan Altima | ↓ | 23,016 | 18,372 | 18,643 |
#5 | Ford Fusion | ↓ | 22,629 | 17,647 | 18,852 |
#6 | Toyota Corolla/Matrix | ↔ | 22,058 | 16,202 | 34,220 |
#7 | Hyundai Sonata | ↑ | 15,964 | 14,031 | 10,485 |
#8 | Toyota Prius | ↑ | 15,639 | 10,224 | 11,775 |
#9 | Hyundai Elantra | ↑ | 13,096 | 8631 | 5763 |
#10 | Volkswagen Jetta | ↑ | 12,995 | 11,153 | 10,223 |
Related From GoodCarBadCar.netTop 25 Best-Selling Cars In America - 2011 Year EndTop 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - January 2011Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - November 2010Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - 2010 Year End EditionU.S. Auto Sales By Brand - December 2010Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In America - December 2010
