Filed under: Earnings/Financials, By the Numbers
By the Numbers: December 2006
The numbers are in for December, the last month of 2006, and it appears that those year-end sales drives produced results for many brands. We haven't seen this much green on the sales chart all the year. Congrats go to Kia for being the months Biggest Winner by posting a 66% sales gain over last year, and our sympathies once again go out to Jaguar, the Biggest Loser again this month, which on average sold 34% less this month. Strong gains were also posted by Audi (39.7%), BMW (21%), Hyundai (19.56%), Toyota (18.1%) and, look out, Saturn (41.8%). Last year at this time, however, Saturn was a three-vehicle brand, whereas this year it's been bolstered by the Aura, Sky Roadster, and even the Outlook, which tacked on 144 sales despite only being on sale for a fraction of the month.BMW's strong sales overcame the small deficit of the MINI brand to give the group as a whole a 20% increase in sales for the month, but again it's Toyota that continues to astonish with a 16.6% gain in December to follow up on its 15.9% jump in November. Both Ford and General Motors saw their sales fall over 9%, and Toyota Motor Co. was just over 5,000 units away from passing FoMoCo for the No. 2 sales spot in the U.S. this month. Toyota can take heart, however, its namesake division bested the Ford brand in December by just 173 units, making it the second-best selling brand in the U.S. behind Chevrolet for the month.
Keep an eye out for our By The Numbers: 2006 yearly wrap-up post later day.
Biggest Winner
Kia
66% at 30,004 (12/05: 18,767)Biggest Loser
Jaguar
–34% at 1,553 (12/05: 2,445)BRANDS
Acura
6.3% at 19,056 (12/05: 18,621)Audi
39.7% at 11,897 (12/05: 8,842) BMW
21% at 30,945 (12/05: 24,464)Buick
–24.5% at 15,986 (12/05: 22,002)Cadillac
2.8% at 22,715 (12/05: 22,946)Chevrolet
–12.9% at 194,369 (12/05: 231,628)Chrysler
11% at 55,839 (12/05: 52,208)Dodge
9% at 88,489 (12/05: 84,023)Ford
–11.2% at 190,914 (12/05: 223,324)GMC
–14.4% at 41,770 (12/05: 50,688)Honda
2.5% at 112,722 (12/05: 114,179)HUMMER
–10.9% at 6,928 (12/05: 8,079)Hyundai
19.56% at 43,021 (12/05: 37,365)Infiniti
5.9% at 13,112 (12/05: 12,856)Isuzu
9.56% at 2,566 (12/05: 2,432)Jaguar
–34% at 1,553 (12/05: 2,445)Jeep
–10% at 46,087 (12/05: 53,218)Kia
66% at 30,004 (12/05: 18,767)Land Rover
–9.65% at 6,014 (12/05: 6,913)Lexus
9.9% at 37,235 (12/05: 35,186) Lincoln
5.44% at 12,806 (12/05: 12,612)Mazda
7.94% at 19,912 (12/05: 19,156)Mercedes
–6.39% at 28,115 (12/05: 31,192)Mercury
6.16% at 13,809 (12/05: 13,507)MINI
5.38% at 2,472 (12/05: 2,436)Mitsubishi
6.39% at 9,910 (12/05: 9,673)Nissan
4.2% at 78,663 (12/05: 78,397)Pontiac
–6.2% at 32,772 (12/05: 36,288)Porsche
3.95% at 2,947 (12/05: 2,944)Saab
32.7% at 3,535 (12/05: 2,766)Saturn
41.8% at 20,686 (12/05: 15,145)Subaru
7.46% at 20,613 (12/05: 19,919)Suzuki
14% at 7,317 (12/05: 6,662)Toyota
18.1% at 191,087 (12/05: 168,093)Volkswagen
–20.2% at 19,942 (12/05: 25,956)Volvo
–2.5% at 8,525 (12/05: 9,080)COMPANIES
BMW Group
20% at 33,417 (12/05: 28,900)Chrysler Group
4% at 190,415 (12/05: 189,449)Ford Motor Co
–9.43% at 233,621 (12/05: 267,881)General Motors
–9.6% at 341,327 (12/05: 392,041)Honda America
3.0% at 131,778 (12/05: 132,800)Nissan North America
4.4% at 91,775 (12/05: 91,253)Toyota Motor Co.
16.6% at 228,322 (12/05: 203,279)Note: December of 2005 had 27 selling days, whereas December of 2006 had 26 selling day. On acount of this, all percentages reflect a change in the daily average sales rate, not the difference in the number of raw units sold each month. The percentages, in effect, reflect the difference in how many vehicles were sold per day on average during each month.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Steve 6:46PM (1/03/2007)
I hope GM takes this as a sign to stop those irritating and misguided "This is our country" ads. I know I'll never buy a Chevy after an ad campaign that featured 9/11, WWII, and not a single minority to be found.
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Roanoke 6:53PM (1/03/2007)
Yeah, Chrysler should really consider spinning off Mercedes... They're really dragging DCX down!
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Jay 7:06PM (1/03/2007)
I'm sorry to say you have your numbers backwards for Hyundai. According their website ( http://www.hyundainews.com/Corporate_News/Sales_Releases/01_03_2007_2095.asp ), they only sold 37,365 in December 2006 compared to 43,021 in December 2005.
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Lithous 7:14PM (1/03/2007)
"I know I'll never buy a Chevy after an ad campaign that featured 9/11, WWII, and not a single minority to be found."
Look at 10,15,20,38 and 48 seconds marks on the video there are minorities:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVVT-wumaLk
Look at 3 and 10 marks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVd5Ut-R_lE
I think the one you are talking about is a progression of the same ranch over the years and generations of owners.
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Lithous 7:20PM (1/03/2007)
I meant 46 second mark on the first video and not 48.
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ramsport47 7:21PM (1/03/2007)
wait...wasn't it two months ago that everyone said Chrysler Group was gonna fail? now THEY are the ones with the increases. hmmm, maybe y'all were wrong 2 months ago...I'm thinking that all you who know nothing were wrong..OH, and that "ugly" Sebring...over 12,000 units in december. not bad for an ugly car, and the washed up 300...16,000 units...I believe it's best month yet. Wow...look at all that proof you were WRONG
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Steve 7:26PM (1/03/2007)
Fine. I stand corrected. But it doesn't change how horrible these ads are to anyone who isn't in the target white middle america demographic. While it may sell more trucks, it damages every other segment. Also, I'm not anti every GM ad... I like the new Cadillac ads (outside showing some particularly ugly 80-90s models). But the general could at least give some of its cars a chance to gain new customers instead of selling to existing ones.
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5 Watt 7:30PM (1/03/2007)
Steve you may want to watch that add again, unless you definition of a minority is different than mine.
If you look what GM vehicles sales you will see that only a few account for most of the declines.
TB/Envoy -103,000
Malibu/Classic - 82,000
Colorado/Canyon - 45,000
Those account for over half of GM sales losses. That is unsustainable, even for GM.
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John 7:33PM (1/03/2007)
Has Jaguar had a postive year over year sales gain in the past few years? When are they going to get to Zero? It seems like the inexplicably own the largest sales decline category.
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B-noit 7:41PM (1/03/2007)
Wow, even Saab is up over 30%? That's quite remarkable considering their aging/boring lineup... But I'm a fan anyway :)
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Ryan 8:00PM (1/03/2007)
"6. wait...wasn't it two months ago that everyone said Chrysler Group was gonna fail? now THEY are the ones with the increases. hmmm, maybe y'all were wrong 2 months ago...I'm thinking that all you who know nothing were wrong..OH, and that "ugly" Sebring...over 12,000 units in december."
-Now lets see them do it *without* dramatic dealer and consumer incentives like honda.
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Howard Kerr 8:01PM (1/03/2007)
Look at some of these numbers, guys. BUICK sells more cars than AUDI? Who would have thunk it? Isuzu sells MORE than Jaguar? Yikes. JEEP sells MORE than Mercedes?
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Calguy 8:20PM (1/03/2007)
Yippee for Saab! Those are knockout numbers for the stealth Swede. I'm on my second 9-5 and it's sooo good. Great mpg, killer power, safe, cheap as hell compared to the 5 series wagon I considered. Nice people are finding the brand.
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AJ 8:49PM (1/03/2007)
Maybe because this IS WHITE America, you dolt. Quit trying to turn it into Japan. Get the hell out, Japs.
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Rain Man 8:50PM (1/03/2007)
"But it doesn't change how horrible these ads are to anyone who isn't in the target white middle america demographic."
Yes, Steve, I'm with you. It's so hip to hate whitey isn't it? Everything is the fault of the whitey.
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JSFORBES 9:00PM (1/03/2007)
Anyone know how the new GM pickups did?
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pauln 9:10PM (1/03/2007)
A better sales statistic would be profit per car sold. Who cares how many Commanders,etc. you can sell at $10k below MSRP?
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Andy 9:12PM (1/03/2007)
Stop lambasting GM for appealling to the white, middle-Americans that form the backbone of this country. Its been proven that advertising that appeals to everyone is not effective.
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ramsport47 9:16PM (1/03/2007)
Now lets see them do it *without* dramatic dealer and consumer incentives like honda.
Posted at 8:00PM on Jan 3rd 2007 by Ryan
I should have guessed Ryan...Oh...by the way smart guy. There are NO incentives on the new Sebring. 12,000 no incentive sales...again not bad for the "ugly" car as you put it. Camry and Accord are uglier
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chewy 9:20PM (1/03/2007)
Toyota a whisker away from Chevrolet, which is the real comparison.
194,369 for Chevy and 191,087 for Toyota.
Toyota is kiiling every mainstream brand. Are Toyota good, sure. But I think they aren't soooooooooo much better but it is a matter of image of them being a reliable car, that suits maaaannnnnnnnyyyyy buyers.
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