Although U.S. December sales fell short of expectations for most automakers because of the cold weather, 2013 remains the best sales year since the onset of recession in 2008. GM, Ford and Chrysler all reported consistent growth compared with 2012.
The Ford Group said 2013 was its best sales year since 2006, with the Detroit carmaker reporting 2,493,918 deliveries, up 11 percent compared to 2012. Ford remained the best-selling brand in the U.S. for the fourth consecutive year, with sales of 2,412,224 vehicles (+14 percent).
Chrysler sales rose 9 percent to 1.8 million vehicles, while GM saw an increase of 7 percent to 2.8 million units. Toyota reported provisional 2013 sales of 2,235,042 vehicles, accounting for an increase of 7.4 percent compared to 2012, while Nissan said it sold 1,248,420 vehicles in the U.S. in 2013 (up 9.4 percent).
Hyundai sold 720,783 units in 2013, up 2.5 percent, while VW reported sales of 407,704 units, down 6.9 percent. VW’s data only includes its namesake brand, with Audi separately reporting 158,061 sales, up 13.5 percent.
Mercedes-Benz said 2013 was its best year ever, with 312,534 sales, representing a 14 percent increase from the 274,134 vehicles sold in 2012. Jaguar Land Rover sales rose 20 percent to 66,962 units in 2013.
Other automakers, including BMW, Honda and Kia, hadn’t released 2013 sales figures at the time we wrote this report. According to Bloomberg analysts, deliveries are expected to rise 4.1 percent for Honda.
The U.S. market is expected to end 2013 with an annualized light-vehicle sales rate adjusted for seasonal trends of 15.8 million, up from 15.2 million a year earlier.
By Dan Mihalascu
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