International Brand New Car Sales In North America December 2014
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Washington DC January 6, 2015; Record numbers of auto recalls did little to slow sales last month, and in fact may have helped drive traffic to dealerships. Kia saw sales rise 34.6 percent from December 2013; Subaru, the year’s fastest growing automaker, had sales up 24.3 percent; and Toyota enjoyed a 12.2 percent improvement. For the 13th consecutive year the Camry was the top selling car in America with 428,606 vehicles sold.
“Every factor indicates a strong 2015 for international nameplate dealers,” said AIADA President Cody Lusk. “Plummeting gas prices and low interest rates are giving Americans a reason to visit their dealer, and attractive new models are giving them a reason to buy.”
December Closes Out Successful Year for International Brands
International nameplate brands finished the year on a high note, occupying 54.6 percent of the December auto market and selling 822,477 vehicles, down slightly from the 55.3 percent share, but a sales improvement over the 720,537 vehicles they sold last month. For the year overall, Asian and European brands captured a total market share of 54.8 percent and sold 9,052,500 vehicles.
Asian brands sold 661,026 vehicles in December and held 43.9 percent of the U.S. market. While market share was down from the 44.5 percent in November, total sales were up over the 580,506 vehicles they sold last month. Asian brands finished 2014 with 45.4 percent of the U.S. auto market and sales of 7,504,627 vehicles, representing a 6.6 percent improvement over 2013.
European brands captured 10.7 percent of the December auto market, down slightly from 10.8 percent in November. Sales for the month totaled 161,451, up from 130,539 in November. For 2014 overall, European brands sold 1,547,873 vehicles and logged a 9.4 percent share of the market. They were up 2.5 percent over 2013 sales figures.
Domestic brands held a 45.4 percent share of the December market, selling 684,862 vehicles. They held 45.2 percent of the overall U.S. auto market in 2014, with sales of 7,469,500 vehicles, and were up 6 percent over 2013.
CR-V Continues to Dominate, Camry Finishes the Year On Top
December’s top-ten list featured six international nameplate models. Trucks continued to dominate the top three spots, held by the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado, and Ram 1500-3500, respectively. The Honda CR-V was the top selling international nameplate model in November, maintaining its fourth place finish for the second month in a row. In fifth place, the Nissan Altima displaced the Toyota Camry as the best-selling car in the U.S. for the month. Despite finishing December in sixth place, the Camry closed out 2014 as the top-selling car in the U.S. for the 13th consecutive year. The midsize Honda Accord and compact Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic rounded out the international nameplate offerings in December, finishing the month in seventh, eighth, and tenth places.
2014 Sales Powered by North American Manufacturing
North American manufacturing units continued to keep pace with rising U.S. sales in December. Overall, production facilities operated by Asian and European brands in North American supplied 522,405 vehicles sold in December, up from 465,087 vehicles in November. For the year overall, these facilities produced 5,727,626 of the vehicles sold in the U.S.
North American plants operated by Asian automakers produced 473,757 vehicles sold in December. Of these, 260,735 were cars—representing 38.4 percent of the cars sold in the U.S.—while 213,022 were trucks—which represented 25.7 percent of all trucks sold in the U.S. For the year overall, they produced 3,065,315 cars (38.7 percent of all cars sold) and 2,243,982 trucks (26.1 percent of all cars sold). Sales of North American-sourced Asian vehicles finished the year up by an average of 11.4 percent.
European operations also reported a successful year. 48,648 vehicles sold in December were supplied by their North American manufacturing plants. Of those, 29,457 were cars (4.3 percent of all cars sold) and 19,191 were trucks (2.3 percent of all trucks sold). In 2014 overall, they produced 256,435 cars sold in the U.S. (3.2 percent) and 161,894 trucks sold (1.9 percent)—a 6.7 percent improvement over 2013.
Outlook
AutoData Corp. reports the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) for December 2014 was 16.92 million units versus 15.52 million units a year ago. Total industry unit deliveries increased 10.8 percent compared to last December and 15.8 percent compared to November 2014. Industrywide, 1,507,339 light vehicles were sold in December and 16,522,000 light vehicles were sold in 2014, the highest total since 2006. Sales for all brands were up 10.8 percent from December 2013 and 5.9 percent year over year.
