S&P 500
7,226.20
+0.01%
Dow Jones
49,494.60
-0.62%
Nasdaq 100
27,685.40
+0.66%
Russell 2000
2,804.78
-0.02%
FTSE 100
10,364.50
0.00%
Nikkei 225
59,260.50
-0.78%

Cars and Drivers

U.S. Auto Sales Rise Again in December

Photo of Paul Ausick
By Paul Ausick Updated Published
Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Cars on a lot
Thinkstock
U.S. new car sales are on track to top 14.4 million vehicles in 2012, and up to 15.5 million in the new year. Today’s reports on sales from major automakers continue a winning streak of several months duration now.

Chrysler Group LLC, now majority owned by Italy’s Fiat SpA, reported December sales rose 10% year-over-year. Auto shopping web site Edmunds.com had forecast a monthly increase of 7.3% for the company. Chrysler sold a total of 152,367 units in December, the company’s best December total since 2007. For the year, Chrysler sales topped 1.65 million units, the company’s highest annual sales in five years.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) posted a sales gain of 5% year-over-year in December to 245,733 vehicles sold. Like Chrysler, this was GM’s best December total since 2007 and its best month for retail sales in all of 2012. GM sold a total of nearly 2.6 million units in 2012, up 3.7% from 2011 sales.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) showed a sales gain of 2% in December and total sales of 2.25 million units for 2012. Annual sales rose 4.7%, with car sales up 5.3% and truck sales up 2.4%. Ford’s Focus brand showed the sharpest growth, up 40% year-over-year to about 246,000 units in 2012.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) said full-year 2012 sales rose 27% and sales in December were up 9% compared with sales in December 2011. For the year, Toyota reported sales of 2.08 million units.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) has not released December sales yet.

Paul Ausick

Photo of Paul Ausick
About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Retirees Are Realizing a $1.5 Million Nest Egg at 60 Only Means $31,000 in Real Annual Spending
Drew Wood |

Retirees Are Realizing a $1.5 Million Nest Egg at 60 Only Means $31,000 in Real Annual Spending
71% of Americans With Financial Advisors Feel Secure. Only 10% Without One Do
David Beren |

71% of Americans With Financial Advisors Feel Secure. Only 10% Without One Do

Continue Reading

Paul Ausick |

January Auto Sales Slump on Cold Weather

courtesy of Chrysler GroupAutomakers reported January U.S. sales throughout the morning Monday, and it looks like carmakers posted mostly weaker…
Paul Ausick |

Disappointing December Auto Sales

Automakers reported December U.S. sales Friday morning. Two of the companies projected 2013 sales to reach an annual rate of…
Paul Ausick |

June Auto Sales at Chrysler and Ford Don’t Keep Up with May Sales

Courtesy Ford Motor Co.June U.S. auto sales numbers are due out from most U.S. and foreign automakers today, and it…
Paul Ausick |

November Auto Sales Keep Pace for Yearly Sales Jump to 16 Million

ThinkstockAutomakers reported November U.S. sales throughout Tuesday, and we will follow the reports and post results as they come in.…
Paul Ausick |

April Car Sales Led by Big Gains for Jeep, Nissan

Automakers reported April U.S. sales throughout the morning Thursday, and sales for the month rose for most carmakers. The exceptions…
Paul Ausick |

February Auto Sales: Hot and Not

courtesy of Chrysler GroupAutomakers reported February U.S. sales throughout the morning Monday, and there were winners and losers. Chrysler and…
Paul Ausick |

April Sales at Chrysler and Ford Report Drop Month-over-Month

ThinkstockApril U.S. sales numbers are due out from most U.S. and foreign automakers today, and it looks like it was…
Paul Ausick |

May Auto Sales at Chrysler and Ford Rise on Truck Sales

courtesy Ford Motor Co.Auto sales numbers for May are due out from most U.S. and foreign automakers today, and last…
Paul Ausick |

March Car Sales Better Than Expected, Chrysler Leads

courtesy of Chrysler GroupAutomakers reported March U.S. sales throughout the morning Tuesday, and contrary to all predictions, sales rose across…

Top Gaining Stocks

Cboe Global Markets
CBOE • Vol: 1,568,143
New Pluto Global
PSKY • Vol: 12,285,993
Seagate Technology
STX • Vol: 7,378,346
Oracle
ORCL • Vol: 26,317,675
Datadog
DDOG • Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ • Vol: 4,367,433
Clorox
CLX • Vol: 13,260,523
Stryker
SYK • Vol: 4,519,455
Mohawk Industries
MHK • Vol: 1,859,865
Amgen
AMGN • Vol: 3,818,618