Autoblog

Our fingers are bleeding after so much number crunching (look for By the Numbers: 2007 coming up next). As you can see, the last month of the year was not pretty for most automakers. The number of red arrows in our list below are almost too numerous to count. Mitsubishi, however, took the biggest hit, seeing its sales fall off 40.4% compared to last December.

Moving right along to the major automakers, Ford Motor Company and General Motors both saw declines last month, with sales shrinking 9.2% and 5.2%, respectively. Chrysler LLC, however, managed to eek out a 1% improvement. BMW was up a percent as well, while Honda America remained flat. Nissan North America fell 2.4% in sales, and even Toyota Motor Co. couldn't pull out a win, falling 1.7%.

Since there were the same amount of selling days last month as there were in December 2006, the figures below represent both the change in raw number of units sold and the daily average sales rate.

Biggest Winner
MINI 44% at 3,562 (12/06: 2,472)

Biggest Loser
Mitsubishi –40.4% at 5,904 (12/06: 9,910)

BRANDS
Acura –7.7% at 17,582 (12/06: 19,056)
Audi -29% at 8,502 (12/06: 11,897)
BMW –2.4% at 30,199 (12/06: 30,945)
Buick –9.9% at 14,400 (12/06: 15,986)
Cadillac –5.6% at 21,436 (12/06: 22,715)
Chevrolet –4.5% at 185,626 (12/06: 194,369)
Chrysler –13% at 48,384 (12/06: 55,839)
Dodge 11% at 92,235 (12/06: 88,489)
Ford –9.0% at 173,648 (12/06: 190,914)
GMC 8.9% at 45,503 (12/06: 41,770)
Honda 1.3% at 114,210 (12/06: 112,722)
HUMMER –23% at 5,333 (12/06: 6,928)
Hyundai 24.2% at 46,487 (12/06: 37,365)
Infiniti –3.5% at 12,655 (12/06: 13,112)
Jaguar –2.0% at 1,522 (12/06: 1,553)
Jeep –3.0% at 44,804 (12/06: 46,087)
Kia –19.8% at 24,068 (12/06: 30,004)
Land Rover –18.7% at 4,887 (12/06: 6,014)
Lexus –7.2% at 34,555 (12/06: 37,235)
Lincoln –21.4% at 10,065 (12/06: 12,806)
Mazda 25% at 24,933 (12/06: 19,912)
Mercedes –2.9% at 27,301 (12/06: 28,115)
Mercury –8.5% at 12,631 (12/06: 13,809)
MINI 44% at 3,562 (12/06: 2,472)
Mitsubishi –40.4% at 5,904 (12/06: 9,910)
Nissan –2.2% at 76,900 (12/06: 78,663)
Pontiac –7.8% at 30,211 (12/06: 32,772)
Porsche –2.0% at 2,891 (12/06: 2,947)
Saab –22.3% at 2,748 (12/06: 3,535)
Saturn –12% at 18,196 (12/06: 20,686)
Subaru–9.1% at 18,739 (12/06: 20,613)
Suzuki 0.6% at 7,361 (12/06: 7,317)
Toyota –0.7% at 189,844 (12/06: 191,087)
Volkswagen 3.0% at 20,543 (12/06: 19,942)
Volvo 9.6% at 9,341 (12/06: 8,525)

COMPANIES
BMW Group 1.0% at 33,761 (12/06: 33,417)
Chrysler Group 1.0% at 191,423 (12/06: 190,415)
Ford Motor Co –9.2% at 212,094 (12/06: 233,621)
General Motors –5.2% at 323,453 (12/06: 341,327)
Honda America 0.0% at 131,792 (12/06: 131,778)
Nissan North America –2.4% at 89,555 (12/06: 91,775)
Toyota Motor Co. –1.7% at 224,399 (12/06: 228,322)