General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles all ended 2016 selling fewer new vehicles in the United States than the traditional Detroit Three managed one year earlier.
Yet for a second consecutive year, U.S. auto sales improved to record levels, shooting past 17.5 million units thanks to an end-of-year push that propelled December to a 3-percent increase, not the 2-percent decline forecasted.Compared with 2015, Jaguar and Volvo were the fastest-growing auto brands in America in calendar year 2016. Ram, Jeep, and Subaru posted the best percentage improvements among volume brands, with Ram and Jeep standing out as overall FCA numbers declined (Chrysler, Fiat, and Alfa Romeo were among the most rapidly declining auto brands). With the 200’s slow departure, Chrysler sales slid 27 percent in 2016. Fiat plunged by nearly a quarter.
The Toyota Camry turned 2016 into its 15th consecutive year as America’s best-selling car, just ahead of the arrival of a new Camry at this month’s North American International Auto Show. With the 2016 model year marking the end of the outgoing model’s tenure, the Honda CR-V nevertheless ended 2016 as America’s top-selling SUV/crossover — its fifth consecutive year on top of the leaderboard. The Ford F-Series, America’s top-selling vehicle line, topped the pickup truck category for a 40th consecutive year.
The big story of 2016, however, was the steady decline of passenger cars. By the end of 2016, SUVs/crossovers were consistently outselling cars, which are now producing only four out of every ten U.S. new vehicle sales.
| Auto Brand | December 2016 | December 2015 | % Change | 2016 | 2015 | % Change |
|
Acura
|
17,148 | 16,823 | 1.9% | 161,360 | 177,165 | -8.9% |
|
Alfa Romeo
|
52 | 56 | -7.1% | 516 | 659 | -21.7% |
|
Audi
|
23,195 | 20,399 | 13.7% | 210,213 | 202,202 | 4.0% |
|
BMW
|
32,835 | 34,625 | -5.2% | 313,174 | 346,023 | -9.5% |
|
Buick
|
21,288 | 20,708 | 2.8% | 229,631 | 223,055 | 2.9% |
|
Cadillac
|
21,446 | 20,787 | 3.2% | 170,006 | 175,267 | -3.0% |
|
Chevrolet
|
212,959 | 188,794 | 12.8% | 2,096,510 | 2,125,347 | -1.4% |
|
Chrysler
|
16,776 | 24,554 | -31.7% | 231,972 | 317,923 | -27.0% |
|
Dodge
|
36,329 | 46,210 | -21.4% | 506,858 | 527,295 | -3.9% |
|
Fiat
|
2,606 | 5,619 | -53.6% | 32,742 | 42,922 | -23.7% |
| Ford | 224,994 | 226,746 | -0.8% | 2,487,487 | 2,501,855 | -0.6% |
|
Genesis
|
1,733 | — | — | 6,948 | — | — |
|
GMC
|
63,415 | 59,941 | 5.8% | 546,628 | 558,697 | -2.2% |
|
Honda
|
143,329 | 134,070 | 6.9% | 1,476,582 | 1,409,386 | 4.8% |
|
Hyundai
|
60,572 | 63,508 | -4.6% | 768,057 | 761,710 | 0.8% |
|
Infiniti
|
18,198 | 15,093 | 20.6% | 138,293 | 133,498 | 3.6% |
|
Jaguar
|
4,294 | 1,197 | 259% | 31,243 | 14,466 | 116% |
|
Jeep
|
83,159 | 88,868 | -6.4% | 926,376 | 872,908 | 6.1% |
|
Kia
|
54,353 | 54,241 | 0.2% | 647,598 | 625,818 | 3.5% |
|
Land Rover
|
8,279 | 8,441 | -1.9% | 73,861 | 70,582 | 4.6% |
|
Lexus
|
41,182 | 41,380 | -0.5% | 331,228 | 344,601 | -3.9% |
|
Lincoln
|
12,791 | 10,860 | 17.8% | 111,724 | 101,227 | 10.4% |
|
Maserati
|
1,694 | 1,069 | 58.5% | 12,534 | 11,693 | 7.2% |
|
Mazda
|
28,754 | 29,294 | -1.8% | 297,773 | 319,183 | -6.7% |
|
Mercedes-Benz °
|
32,011 | 34,203 | -6.4% | 340,237 | 343,088 | -0.8% |
|
Mercedes-Benz Vans °
|
3,860 | 4,046 | -4.6% | 34,304 | 29,889 | 14.8% |
|
Total Mercedes-Benz °
|
35,871 | 38,249 | -6.2% | 374,541 | 372,977 | 0.4% |
|
Mini
|
4,658 | 5,009 | -7.0% | 52,030 | 58,514 | -11.1% |
|
Mitsubishi
|
7,383 | 7,887 | -6.4% | 96,267 | 95,342 | 1.0% |
|
Nissan
|
134,545 | 124,207 | 8.3% | 1,426,130 | 1,351,420 | 5.5% |
|
Porsche
|
4,015 | 3,936 | 2.0% | 54,280 | 51,756 | 4.9% |
|
Ram
|
53,597 | 48,616 | 10.2% | 545,851 | 491,170 | 11.1% |
|
Smart
|
1,186 | 669 | 77.3% | 6,211 | 7,484 | -17.0% |
|
Subaru
|
63,177 | 56,274 | 12.3% | 615,132 | 582,675 | 5.6% |
|
Scion °
|
102 | 1,872 | -94.6% | 12,028 | 32,958 | -63.5% |
|
Toyota °
|
201,945 | 195,100 | 3.5% | 2,106,374 | 2,121,760 | -0.7% |
|
Toyota
|
202,047 | 196,972 | 2.6% | 2,118,402 | 2,154,718 | -1.7% |
|
Volkswagen
|
37,229 | 30,956 | 20.3% | 322,948 | 349,440 | -7.6% |
|
Volvo
|
10,129 | 9,341 | 8.4% | 82,724 | 70,047 | 18.1% |
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
|
BMW-Mini
|
37,493 | 39,634 | -5.4% | 365,204 | 404,537 | -9.7% |
|
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
|
192,519 | 213,923 | -10.0% | 2,244,315 | 2,252,877 | -0.4% |
|
Daimler AG
|
37,057 | 38,918 | -4.8% | 380,752 | 380,461 | 0.1% |
|
Ford Motor Co.
|
237,785 | 237,606 | 0.1% | 2,599,211 | 2,603,082 | -0.1% |
|
General Motors
|
319,108 | 290,230 | 10.0% | 3,042,775 | 3,082366 | -1.3% |
|
Honda Motor Co.
|
160,477 | 150,893 | 6.4% | 1,637,942 | 1,586,551 | 3.2% |
|
Hyundai-Kia
|
116,658 | 117,749 | -0.9% | 1,422,603 | 1,387,528 | 2.5% |
|
Jaguar-Land Rover
|
12,573 | 9,638 | 30.5% | 105,104 | 85,048 | 23.6% |
|
Nissan Motor Co.
|
152,743 | 139,300 | 9.7% | 1,564,423 | 1,484,918 | 5.4% |
|
Toyota Motor Corp.
|
243,229 | 238,352 | 2.0% | 2,449,630 | 2,499,319 | -2.0% |
|
Volkswagen Group *
|
64,846 | 55,872 | 16.1% | 590,022 | 606,084 | -2.7% |
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
|
Industry Total
|
1,688,368
|
1,638,618
|
3.0%
|
17,539,052
|
17,482,841
|
0.3% |
Source: Manufacturers
[Image Source: FCA]
* Volkswagen Group includes sales figures for Audi, Bentley, Porsche, and Volkswagen brands
° Mercedes-Benz USA releases sales figures for the Mercedes-Benz brand in the conventional sense, vans excluded, as well as totals for the Metris and Sprinter vans. The complete picture is included here.
° Scion’s sales figures are now folded into Toyota’s, but the Scion brand here includes sales of outgoing Scions as well as Scions that are becoming Toyotas. We have included the complete picture for clarity’s sake.
** Industry total takes into account Automotive News figures/estimates for brands such as Tesla (2,250 December units; 26,725 in 2016) and other low-volume, high-priced manufacturers.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.
Alfa Romeo poised for the biggest jump EVAH.
Did you know that disco record sales were up 400% in 1976? If these trends continue…Aayyyyy …
looks like Lincoln might be doing something right.
and I’m surprised VW is up that much.
Dealer friend said that the buybacks are translating into significantly more replacement VW sales than they expected.
I too am shocked. Had Volkswagen had the new Tiguan or Atlas in showrooms, I suspect sales would have been substantially better even.
Anecdotal, but goes to show that the mass market really doesn’t care about ‘scandals’, especially when they’re not safety related.
The giveaway pricing isn’t hurting VW either.
(It’s the reason a Jetta’s sitting outside my place as this is written…well, that, plus I love driving the thing.)
VW sales rep’s dream come true. VW loyalists are forced into a VW showroom (6th circle of hell), have tons of cash from the buyback, and suddenly need a ride ASAP.
My local dealer near Nashville said they had 900 plus buybacks potentially. They are getting about half retention rate. The nearest other dealer is over an hour away.
“the mass market really doesn’t care about ‘scandals’”
Tim’s work is an excellent counter to the reality distortion field surrounding car blogs.
“Anecdotal, but goes to show that the mass market really doesn’t care about ‘scandals’, especially when they’re not safety related.”
VW December YOY looks good, but they’re down 8% for 2016. And about that old sales goal of 800K vehicles by 2018? Uh, yeah.
Is December and/or the buyback period an outlier or is this a trend?
They’re still going to hit 800000 per year in the U.S., the deadline has just been extended to 2025 now. No big deal. /s
I have seen posts from a lot of former TDI drivers that have ended up getting Alltracks or GTIs, so I guess that accounts for VW’s surprising uptick.
“looks like Lincoln might be doing something right.”
Where are you getting that from? Lincoln is doing one thing right and that’s rebadging the Edge. Nobody is interested in any of their other rebadges.
Removing only the increase in Lincoln Edge sales over last year, Lincoln was up about 1%. And that includes the 5K sales from the new Lincoln Azera.
would you go to hell already, please?
what do we have moderators for if they let obvious sockpuppet trolls like you hang around?
Jim, thank you for saying what I was thinking.
Sorry that the facts bother you so much. All numbers taken from the Ford press release.
Honestly analyzing a sales report should not cause so much frustration.
Tim, I was curious if you have ever done a year end chart like this, based on manufacturers as a whole (volkswagen group, gm, etc.) based on global sales? While the U.S. sales results are certainly interesting, I’m curious to see how market share is being earned/lost in the global market that these companies exist. Not sure if that data is as readily available though.
In an up year, the 3 biggest sellers: GM, Ford and Toyota were all down. Interesting – I wonder if there are limits to scale economies in this industry.
Probably a product mix heavily focused on cars. Since they are heavier volume it’ll be slower to change.
Good question. I didn’t think any of those three were car heavy since they all sell trucks and multiple crossovers unlike say VW or Mazda. So they should be doing well. You would think economies of scale should help them be even more competitive on pricing and hence more successful.
“I wonder if there are limits to scale economies in this industry.”
That’s a great question and rife with implications for all kinds of stuff. Where’s Pch101, anyway?
I’ve been wondering the same thing myself. I hope he is alright and in good health.
“I hope he is alright and in good health.”
Me too. Dude be smart-smart.
PCH is missed. Oh that there were some kind of bat signal we could shine whenever we need PCH to insult those of us with the chutzpah to take Tesla seriously.
As Old Lodge Skins said in what he thought was his funeral oration:
“And thank you Great Spirit for my enemies.”
where did PCH go? Did he finally tire of berating the village idiots?
Hopefully he didn’t get banned for berating the village idiots
GM and Ford have the largest crossover, SUV and pickup line-ups, as well as Toyota by far among the import brands.
The issue for these 3 is that they have yet to switch-over to producing even more of their crossovers, SUVs and pick-ups (notwithstanding Toyota’s ability to pump out over 350k of the RAV-4).
You are not arguing, again, that it is capacity constraints are you? If capacity was constrained and they could therefore easily sell each of their crossovers without trouble then why are they giving large incentives and below MSRP pricing?
Acura who?
Acura who sells with one-third the cash on the hood that Buick requires?
Acura’s decline shows! How long will it last?
As long as fools prefer 20% off to real value.
Must be Motely Fools for sure!
GM is still losing market share 2015 was 17.63 percent and 2016 is 17.35 percent I know I know this is by design . They are cutting back unprofitable rental fleet sales They have been saying this for ten years Company executives and Mary Barra have to have a story for the Board and shareholders to disguise the weak product lineup and overpriced cars and trucks they try so hard to get someone to buy . Yesterdays cars and trucks at tomorrows prices Thats the new GM s mantra
It doesn’t look like they have a difficult time finding someone to buy GM cars. Older news,from October:
http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2016/10/25/gm-earns-28b-q3-led-higher-prices-us/92690126/
GM would buy a lot of credibility if they broke out retail vs. fleet sales.
So would HMC!
The difference is that HMC has been pretty consistent at 99% retail. They simply don’t court the fleet market. You will occasionally see an oddball leftover as a rental car, but in much smaller numbers than any competitor.
a large portion of fleet sales for the D3 are trucks and vans. the Ford Transit is almost 100% fleet (so there’s 150,000 units right there,) the Super Duty pickup is IIRC around 50-60% fleet, most Transit Connects are fleet, all chassis-cabs are fleet, and so on. Honda does not sell ANY of those kinds of vehicles here.
can you please get out of the mindset that “fleet” automatically means “rental cars?”
GM’s 2016 fleet mix was 19.6%, down 2.4% from 2015. Not that detailed, but it’s something.
gm.com/content/dam/gm/mol/docs/Deliveries-December-2016.pdf
JimZ
You make a good point that there are fleet sales of trucks to businesses that are profitable, and then there is dumping your leftovers at Budget, which is not. I am just asking automakers break out there sales, so investors can understand whether they are high quality or not.
All I have to go on for rental car fleet sales is my own experience at Hertz, where I’ve mostly seen Toyota, Hyundai/Kia, FCA and Mazda. Occasionally Ford or Chevy.
Ask and ye shall receive. Go to gm.com –> Investors –> Sales –> Deliveries.
or
http://www.gm.com/investors/sales/us-sales-production.html
Click on the PDF for Deliveries
jjster6 delivers!
We’re at Peak Market, and now the incentives game will begin hurting vulnerable players like Mazda and BMW-Mini.
FCA is being carried by Jeep and RAM, Acura is being carried by Honda, Lexus is being carried by Toyota. I suppose VW, GM, and Ford are cash-rich and can survive a modest downturn.
Good points. Mazda has problems because even though their MSRPs are competitive they cannot put $4K on the hood like Honda or Toyota (or others) can. They need increased North American production so CE manufacturing in Japan then shipping over to here has got to be more expensive than making in say Ohio (like Honda).
Lexus is doing fine with their crossovers and the lower-priced FWD sedan, the ES; it’s their mid-upper RWD sedans (GS and LS) which are hurting.
Acura’s problem is their sedans (even the TLX isn’t selling as well as Honda hoped and the ILX and RLX are unmitigated disasters).
2009 Jeep Sales: 231,701
2016 Jeep Sales: 926,376
Yowza, that’s a lotta Jeeps!
Marketing trumps product.
Very interesting. Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo are all on very positive upswings. I remain skeptical of Ford’s decision to ditch them during the troubles. Volvos will soon be made in China for the US market. If priced aggressively in the US they could become a huge factor.
For all the **** they take on TTAC, Fiat-Chrysler is holding its own during a huge market shift. Owning the Jeep brand when SUVs are hot has been a good ticket, and FCA hasn’t been afraid to offer bargain prices to keep the metal moving. How many people realize that FCA sold only 15% fewer vehicles than Ford did last year?
Cadillac’s Extreme Makeover isn’t working, and isn’t going to.
FCA should probably ditch either the Dodge or Chrysler nameplates and put all of their non-Jeep, non-truck products under one badge.
Mazda’s inexorable slide into US market oblivion continues with little hope for the volumes necessary in their price band on the horizon. They might as well hire some ex-Suzuki people to manage their retreat.
In a similar vein, why is Mitsubishi still in the US market?
Honda is showing no signs of understanding how much trouble Acura is in and/or how to fix it. Move the TLX, MDX and RDX into Honda showrooms and call the experiment off. Lexus is really the only one that did it right.
I think Ford was right to ditch JLR, Volvo, and Aston Martin. They really needed to focus on the Ford brand and its served them good enough. Also, JLR and Volvo have really done well with better management.
I think a big part of the sales figures for FCA is that they got called out on bogus reporting – you see that suddenly their amazing sales growth come to a halt when they had to report accurately. You are right. There really is no reason for the Chrysler brand, and any non-RWD Dodge. Keep the Dodge RWD vehicles as a boutique brand and consolidate everything else.
Mitsubishi is still in the Market because Nissan acquired it. Also, Nissan is REALLY close to overtaking Honda in the sales race. Its almost a 3 way tie for 5th place.
Ford had no choice but to sell; they needed the cash badly and they were extremely fortunate to have hit the credit markets before they froze (GM and Chrysler were not so fortunate).
Even then, Ford came very close to running out of cash (the C4C program really helped saved Ford).
We here on TTAC question why Acura is still around, yet Infiniti seems to get get a pass. Why is that?
Both should should fold up their tents and move on IMHO.
Infiniti until recently didn’t carbon copy it’s base parent’s models and add better materials.
True that, but Infiniti’s best sellers aside from the G/Q50 (which has always been a great value) have been the Nissan-derived JX/QX60 and QX56/QX80 of late.
And now Infiniti is taking Mercedes components and giving them new sheetmetal with better interior materials.
But yeah, at least Nissan still attempts to differentiate their luxury brand’s line-up (esp. if that new flagship “sedan” comes to fruition).
As for Lexus, their “bread & butter” are their Toyota-derived models (RX, ES and NX, along with the GX.
Lexus’s mid-high end RWD sedans (GS and LS) only did about 20k combined in sales (compare that to 110k in RX sales).
Higher-end RWD luxury sedan sales are a tough go for anyone who isn’t German.
Even the Germans are having a hard time. The only large luxury sedan doing numbers worth discussing is the benchmark S-Class. People want SUVs.
Why is that a problem? Lexus’ 2 top sellers have applied that strategy successfully for 2 decades and counting. Average luxury shopper does not give a crap about bespoke platforms.
Plus RLX aside Acura’s lineup makes good on the mission of delivering value. Compared to the Hondas they are based on the additional content is reasonably priced, and compared to the bespoke platform competition the content/$$$$ ratio is through the roof.
Acura’s problem is one of image/branding. They’d be in a much better space selling Vigors and Legends instead of the indecipherable alphabet soup they have now. And it seems like they only get it right every other generation…. the early 90s were awesome, but the late 90s were abysmal. Mid aughts were excellent, late aughts were terrible. They seem to be back on a roll now.
It is a problem if sales can’t support future investment.
There’s a reason why Toyota has been so slow in bringing to market the LS460 replacement and why Akio Toyoda wanted to discontinue the GS (and why the GS and LS have lagged behind the competition when it has come to power-plants).
Look at Infiniti – Nissan looked to partner up with Daimler in order to save in development costs, but as it turns out, that wasn’t the answer as Infiniti can’t command the higher prices that Mercedes-components derived Infinitis would require.
And even with the turn to crossovers, Mercedes has done really well with the S Class and C Class the world over and likely will follow suit with the new E Class.
And it’s even Mercedes’ AMG that is doing well (for instance, AMG outsold Porsche in Australia) and overall, MB crushed BMW down under and in other markets like Japan.
If Jaguar added a couple more SUVs to their line up their sales might almost double….
TATA got two luxury brands for less than the price of one. Bad business by Ford when you consider JLRs global business is growing even faster than the US arm in percentage terms.
Volvo was a cash drain but dumping JLR was a colossal mistake.
Looks like aluminum bodies and turbo engines have really hurt F Series sales.
the whole “turbo” fearmongering was stupid on its face. you’ll find at least one turbocharger under the hood of every single class 5-8 diesel truck.
Every.
Single.
One.
yet somehow, they’re supposed to be some fragile disaster waiting to happen if bolted to a gas engine in an F-150.
JimZ – I remember how happy my dad was with his turbocharged R600 Mack back in the 70’s. He said it was easier to drive than his pickup.
Toyota beats Chevrolet for number 2 among brands – has that ever happened before? Lexus is only slightly below Buick and Cadillac combined – remind me again how GM is back?
Toyota doesn’t have a GMC or Buick problem like Chevrolet does.