Subaru, Hyundai and Kia set full-year sales records
The subtitle above should surprise no one. Of all the automakers operating in the U.S., Subaru, Hyundai and Kia are the only automakers to increase sales month after month through this years-long recession while their competitors have faltered. As such, all three are enjoying new full-year sales records a month ahead of the Times Square ball dropping.
The rest of the industry, however, is apparently done fumbling around and is clearly finding its footing. The vast majority of brands saw increased sales last month except for the usual suspects (GM’s non-core brands that are just about dead, also-dying Mercury, along with Smart and Jaguar) and a few cellar-dwelling surprises like Chrysler, Dodge, Toyota and Lexus. We’re not sure what Toyota’s banking on to turn things around, aside from mass amnesia of its recall woes, while Chrysler is doing its best to either fully redesign or substantially upgrade its existing models to keep customers interested.
Either way, when the book closes on 2010, automotive historians will write that the competitive landscape on December 31 looked markedly different than it did 365 days earlier. With one more month to go, we doubt the list of winners and losers is going to look very different from what you see below.
*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were24 selling days in November 2010 versus 23 selling days in November 2009, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change in average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company.