Automakers, including the Detroit Three, reported strong year-end sales Thursday that totaled 14.5 million vehicles sold in 2012, a 13 percent increase from 2011.
DETROIT, MI- Following a robust 2012, the U.S. automotive industry is bullish about the upcoming year.
Automakers, including the Detroit Three, reported strong year-end sales Thursday that totaled 14.5 million vehicles sold in 2012, a 13 percent increase from 2011.
“It was a very healthy, very positive year of recovery,” said Jesse Toprak, senior analyst for auto pricing and forecasting website TrueCar.com. “It shows that the recovery that we’ve seen in the previous years was not a coincidence.”
Vehicle sales bottomed-out in 2009 to less than 10.5 million, as banks tightened lending to Americans. That year also marked the $85 billion auto bailout that forced General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC into government-backed bankruptcies.
Now, less than four years out of bankruptcy for two of the Detroit Three, GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. sold just shy of 6.5 million vehicles in the U.S. in 2012, up 8 percent -- about 476,000 vehicles -- from last year.
“There’s real substance behind the consumer demand for vehicles,” Toprak said. “We’ve seen probably some of the best collections of cars and trucks that we’ve ever seen.”
According to AutoData Corp., December’s annual sales rate of about 15.4 million was the second-highest of 2012, only trailing the 15.5 rate in November. Those types of rates are expected to continue through 2013.
U.S. vehicle sales this year are expected to be between 15 million-15.5 million cars and trucks, according to industry executives and analysts.
“We’re expecting a fairly steady continuation of the momentum we’ve seen in both the economy and in vehicle sales,” said GM chief economist G. Mustafa Mohatarem during a conference call Thursday morning to discuss sales.“The economy and industry have good underlying momentum that we expect to continue.”
December – traditionally a good month for the U.S. auto industry – was strongly driven by pickup truck sales that helped increase the average transaction price for light vehicles in the U.S. to $31,228 -- up about 2 percent from December 2011.
Pickup truck sales, according to Toprak, should continue to improve through this year.
“All of the indications are favorable for a decent truck rally this year,” said Toprak, adding he expects a “healthy sales” for pickups this year.
Pickup trucks are particularly important for the Detroit automakers, which each had a full-size pickup leading their sales in 2012.
Ford’s F-Series pickups continued to top the industry in 2012, becoming America’s best-selling pickup for the 36th-straight year and 31 consecutive years as America’s best-selling vehicle.
“We continue to manage our business,” said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service, during the automaker’s sales conference call Thursday. “I think the important thing to point out about our F-Series business is not only was it the best December for F-Series since 2006, but it was the best month since August of ’07.”
Of the Detroit automakers, Chrysler beat its crosstown rivals in terms of year-over-year sales gains in 2012. The Auburn Hills-based automaker reported 1.65 million units sold, up 21 percent from the previous year.
Ford said sales increased almost 5 percent to about 2.25 million vehicles in 2012. GM reported sales were up 4 percent to nearly 2.6 million.
Both GM and Ford last year lost the market share they gained in 2011 when the earthquake and tsunami hurt Japanese automakers like Toyota and Honda, which continue to recover.
In 2012, Toyota's U.S. sales were up 26.6 percent to nearly 2.1 million units. Honda's sales rose 24 percent to 1.4 million, up 24 percent compared to last year and its fourth-best year ever in the U.S.
The Detroit automakers should expect their Japanese competition and other foreign competitors – particularly Volkswagen – to continue growing in the U.S. in 2013, according to Toprak.
VW experienced a 35 percent jump in sales in 2012, one of the largest increases in the U.S. automotive industry.
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