GreenBkk Auto | 2010 Auto Sales

2010 Auto Sales

By Joe Lorio

In December, the total U.S. auto market was up 11 percent, which also happens to be the percentage increase for the year overall. Actually, though, the final month of 2010 was even stronger than the year-over-year comparison suggests. Although the full-year result for 2010 was roughly 11.6 million vehicles, the annualized sales rate every month during the fourth quarter was better than 12 million units, so the pace definitely picked up as we came down the back stretch. The annualized selling rate for December was 12.6 million units, the fastest clip of the year.

Rather than look at this December versus last December, this time we'll take the long view and do our analysis using full-year figures, the same as we did at this time last year. To get a handle on the difference between now and then, a year ago we were talking about which car companies did relatively OK but were declining less than the overall average of 21 percent. This time, anyone who is down for the year looks pathetic, and even those who post increases need to be up by 11 percent or better, lest they fall behind the pack.

GENERAL MOTORS +21% (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC only)

Although the new GM is undeniably smaller than the eight-brand behemoth of yore, the company's four current brands have all enjoyed a resurgence this year--with Buick earning a special shout-out. Cars, trucks, and crossovers all contributed to GM's sales increase, which suggests that the company is on a more solid footing than in years past.

Chevrolet +16%

Winners

Equinox +74%

Traverse +17%

Silverado +17%, is the #2 best-selling vehicle in America

Camaro +32%, outsold the Mustang for the first time since the mid '80s

Cruze, was Chevrolet's bestselling car in December

Malibu +23%, but only +13% for retail sales, and the Ford Fusion outsold it two to one

Losers

Colorado -24%

Corvette -9%

Tahoe +3%

Impala +4%

Buick +52%

Winners

LaCrosse +120%

Enclave +28%

Loser

Lucerne -15%

Cadillac +35%

Winners

SRX +152%

CTS +18%

Losers

STS -26%, yes, they still sell this car

DTS +8%

GMC +29%

Winners

Terrain +331%

Acadia +27%

Loser

Canyon -21%

FORD MOTOR COMPANY +17% (excluding Volvo)

Ford slowed down a bit in December with a 4 percent increase that trailed the market overall. 2010 was nonetheless an impressive year for Detroit's never-bankrupt car company, as it picked up share and regained the number two spot it lost to Toyota in 2008.

Ford +22%

If the F-series has a good year, Ford has a good year, and in 2010 the F-series had a good year. But there were other factors, including the Fusion (which topped 200,000 units).

Winners

F-series +28%, more than half a million sold, easily retaining its #1 spot

Fusion +21%, best Ford car sales performance since the '04 Taurus

Edge +34%

Taurus +51%

Transit Connect +210%, but still very small volume

Expedition +18%

Losers

Flex -12%, and that's before the in-house competition from the Explorer

Ranger +0%

Mercury +1%

Mercury's long-anticipated death sentence was finally handed down in 2010. No winners here.

Lincoln +4%

Winner

MKT +188%, although still fewer sales than the Navigator

Losers

MKS -16%

MKX, MKZ, Navigator +2%

TOYOTA MOTOR SALES +0%

The hangover from Toyota's recall nightmare at the beginning of the year has proven to be a long one, and it has bolstered the fortunes of Hyundai, Nissan, and possibly Ford as well. The Toyota brand fell behind Chevrolet to third place, and Toyota Motor Sales similarly lost its number 2 position to Ford Motor Company. Toyota needs to do something to break out of its funk in 2011.

Toyota +0%

Winners

4Runner +138%, thank you, redesign!

FJ Cruiser +25%, but the volume is tiny

Sienna, Tundra +18%

Losers

Yaris -37%

Land Cruiser -20%,

Sequoia -15%, big utes are back in style, but the Sequoia had a big year last year

Venza -13%

Corolla -10%

Camry -8%, but still the bestselling car

Tacoma -4%

Lexus +7%

Winners

GX +164%, redesign paying off here, as with 4Runner twin

HS +60%, full-year figures look good, but recent numbers do not: down 41% in December, for instance

Losers

SC430 -54%

IS -10%

GS -4%

ES +1%

RX +3%

Scion -21%

Winner

tC, full-year sales are down, but the new version has enjoyed a big bounce (+58% in December)

Losers

xB -20%

xD -30%

AMERICAN HONDA +7%

Honda's 8 percent increase for the year sounds good, but it represents a loss of share in a year when the overall market grew 11 percent. There were few bright spots in the Honda lineup. At Acura, the crossovers were strong.

Honda +5%

Winner

Pilot +22%

Losers

Fit -19%

Element -4%

Ridgeline -2%, nothing new here

Civic +0%

Insight +2%

Acura +21%

Winners

MDX +51%

RDX +47%

Losers

RL +0%

TL +1%

ZDX, selling at a rate of fewer than 300 per month

CHRYSLER GROUP +17%

Written off for dead not so long ago, Chrysler has had a Lazarus-like 2010, even though its product renewal is just starting. Chrysler climbed back into the million-unit club, and all four brands were up for 2010. A big December increase, over an admittedly awful December '09, was aided by the industry's highest incentive spending, but it helped keep Chrysler ahead of two very strong competitors: Nissan and Hyundai.

Chrysler +12%

Winners

Sebring/200 +41%, of all things...

Town & Country +33%, and reclaimed the minivan sales crown

Loser

300 -4%, maybe the 2011 refresh will help

Dodge +17%

Winners

Charger +24%

Challenger +42%

Avenger +31%

Nitro +30%

Loser

Journey -10%

Jeep +26%

Winners

Grand Cherokee +68%, new version debuted at mid-year and was a major engine of Chrysler's growth

Wrangler +15%, not a big increase, but it's Jeep's most popular offering

Loser

Commander -36%, looks even sillier next to the new Grand Cherokee

Ram +9%

Winners

Ram +13%, ended the year with a bang, nearly doubling sales in December

Dakota +22%, a rare increase among smaller-than-fullsize pickups

Loser

Sprinter, lost to Mercedes-Benz...

NISSAN NORTH AMERICA +18%

Nissan had an incentive-fueled big finish in December (up nearly 28 percent over last December), and it was enough to slip by Hyundai-Kia and retain sixth place for the year.

Nissan +17%

Winners

Armada +95%,

Frontier +42%, apparently someone can sell a compact pickup

Rogue +29%

Versa +20%

Juke, just now hitting dealerships, has already outsold the Titan, the Xterra, and the Pathfinder in its first month

Losers

GT-R -43%

370Z -22%

Murano +3%

Infiniti +27%

Winners

QX56 +85%, all-new, and dealers complain it's hard to get

M +72%

G +23%

Loser

FX -5%

HYUNDAI-KIA +22%

White-hot Hyundai-Kia is arguably the biggest success story of 2010, and with its best-ever month in December, it shows no sign of slowing down. Both Hyundai and Kia had their best year in 2010. One question: How much of the success is the result of Toyota's stumble?

Hyundai +24%

Winners

Tucson +157%, all-new and on fire

Sonata +64%, ditto

Genesis +33%

Elantra +28%, new one just introduced in December

Losers

Accent -24%

Veracruz -14%

Santa Fe -5%

Kia +19%

Winners

Sorento +346%, the redesign ignited sales

Forte +160%, same here

Soul +112%, must be the hamsters

Optima, Sportage, don't be fooled by full-year totals that are way down; both have taken off since their mid-year redos (December: Sportage up 127%, Optima +57%)

Losers

Rondo -75%

Rio -29%

Borrego -7%, both Borrego and Rondo are being dropped

VOLKSWAGEN GROUP +21%

Volkswagen handily outpaced the industry in 2011, with a total just shy of 360,000 units (including a best-ever 101,000 from Audi). Still, that performance was only a down payment on the bonanza its German masters expect going forward. The company still has a long way to go to reach a million units a year.

Volkswagen +20%

Winners

Golf/Rabbit +89%

GTI +73%

Tiguan +51%

Losers

Eos -7%

Touareg +7%, but redesign had an effect with strong December

Audi +23%

Winners

Q5 +71%, mid-size crossover has become Audi's #2 volume product

A3 +69%, and just over half were TDIs

A5 +67%, with the addition of the Cabrio

A6 +28%, impressive considering a new one is imminent

Losers

TT -21%

A4 -7%

A8 +4%, but sales in December doubled the prior year's

Bentley +5%

MAZDA +11%

Winners

CX-7 +40%

CX-9 +37%

Losers

RX-8 -49%, yes, they still sell this car

Miata -20%

Mazda5 -15%, although a revised version was just recently unveiled

Mazda6 +2%

BMW GROUP +10%

The BMW Group was just barely about to stay ahead of surging Subaru.

BMW +12%

Winners

X5 +32%, engine-room upgrade paying off here

7-series +32%

1-series +17%

Losers

5-series -2%

X6, sales are up by a third, but volume is still on a fraction of the X5's; outsells Acura ZDX two to one, though, winning the Battle of the Misshapen Sport-Utes

Mini +1%

Rolls-Royce -4%

SUBARU +22%

Subaru danced through the downturn of 2008 and 2009, and the party didn't stop in 2010, the company's best-ever year in the United States. But Subaru's major new-model introductions are all behind it now.

Winners

Outback +68%

Legacy +25%

Losers

Tribeca -58%, Subaru's perennial loser

Impreza -5%

DAIMLER A.G. +13%

Mercedes is looking pretty good, but Smart is a disaster.

Mercedes-Benz +18%

Winners

E-class +41%, M-B's top seller

GL +33%

S-class +22%

Losers

SL -41%

SLK -23%

GLK -5%

Smart -59%

MITSUBISHI +3%

The Outlander Sport arrived too late in the year to meaningfully affect Mitsuibishi's total.

Winners

Endeavor +33%

Outlander +22%

Losers

Eclipse -28%

Galant -2%

JAGUAR LAND ROVER +18%

The new XJ starts with a bang, but the XF is slipping; meanwhile, the SUVs are holding their own.

Jaguar +12%

Winner

XJ +268%

Losers

XF -18%

XK -6%

Land Rover +21%

Winners

LR4 +123%, the LR4 accounted for the large majority of Land Rover's 2010 increase Range Rover +20%

Loser LR2 -18%

PORSCHE +29%

The Boxster was up a bit, but it is the addition of the Panamera (along with some added Cayenne sales) that accounted for Porsche's sales increase.

Winners

Cayenne +8%, but look for an improvement in 2011, as sales have surged since the redesign (+57% in December)

Panamera, outsells all the sports cars, but not the Cayenne

Losers

Cayman -33%

911 -16%

SUZUKI -38%

Suzuki had an awful year in 2010, but December at least provided a ray of hope, in the form of a 40 percent increase over the previous December.

Winner

Kizashi, it's selling at twice the pace of the Forenza/Reno but needs to do better still if Suzuki is to stay viable

Losers

Grand Vitara -41%

Equator -35%

VOLVO -12%

The uncertainty surrounding Volvo's sale to the Chinese surely put a damper on the brand's sales here. We'll see if Geely, and the new S60, can reverse the slide.

Winner

XC60 +30%

Losers

S40 -29%

V50 -20%

C70 -16%

C30 -8%

XC90 -6%

SAAB -44%

Remember that Saab was all but shut down for the first half of the year, and the GM-based 9-7X previously accounted for roughly one-third of Saab's volume. The new 9-5 is here, and a wagon is due this spring, but there's still a long road ahead.

TOP 5 BESTSELLING NAMEPLATES OF 2010

1. Ford F-series, 528,349

2. Chevrolet Silverado, 370,135

3. Toyota Camry, 327,804

4. Honda Accord 311,381

5. Toyota Corolla/Matrix 266,082

Credit: Automobile Magazine (www.automobilemag.com)