According to the report of the Automotive News, the sales volume of light vehicles in the United States fell 5% in December, while sales for the full year of 2017 dropped by 17% to 17.25 million units, thus ending 7 consecutive years of growth.
New vehicle sales in the United States hit a historical high of 17.55 million units in 2016. For the first time in the world, the sales volume of light vehicles in the United States also dropped in 2009, but exceeded 17 million for the third consecutive year, ranking the fifth in sales history.
Despite a decline in December sales, sales at seasonally adjusted and annualized rates reached 17.86m units, the strongest month of last year, with car sales down 17% and light truck demand slightly up 1.6% in December. In the full year, deliveries of sedans dropped 11% and truck sales increased 4.4%.
From the performance of car companies, GM, Toyota, FCA, Nissan and Honda in December sales in the United States have shown a decline, while Ford is showing a rise in Ford sales in December increased by 1.3%, but also for the fourth consecutive month GM's sales in December fell 3.3%, FCA in the United States also declined, and both companies also reduced the supply of leasing companies. Toyota's sales in the United States fell 8.3%, while Nissan North America's decline of 9.5%, Honda USA Down 7%, but Nissan and Honda annual sales hit a record.
The brand performance
Ford Motor Co.'s December sales rose 1.3% on the back of a 2.4% increase for the Ford brand. Lincoln brand sales fell 17%. In December, SUVs and crossovers increased 8%, while sedans delivered A 5.5% decline over the year. For the full year, Ford's deliveries in the United States slipped 0.9% to 2,575,200 units.
GM's new car sales fell 3.3% in December, with the Chevrolet and Cadillac brands declining 2.9% and 28.6% respectively, Buick Brands and GMC up 4.7% and 1.2% respectively. GM continued to reduce leasing shipments, but said pickups, Crossovers, electric cars and average transaction prices hit a record.
Toyota Motor Corp's December sales slipped 8.3% to 222,985 units, with Toyota and Lexus declining 7.2% and 14% respectively, while Toyota light truck deliveries also dropped 5.6% in December.
FCA US new car sales in December fell 11%, of which Jeep and Ram two brands fell 12% and 6.9% respectively, with the exception of Chrysler and Alfa Romeo, FCA's sales of all brands in December showed a decline.
Honda's car sales fell 7% in December due to the sluggish demand for sedans, while Honda sold declines of 6.3% in December and Acura 12%, but overall Honda sold in 2017 in 2017 1,641,429 vehicles, an increase of 0.2% over the same period of last year, setting a new record.
Nissan's December sales fell 9.4%, while Infiniti dropped 10%. However, Nissan's sales in the United States in 2017 reached 1,593,464 units, an increase of 1.9% from the same period of previous year, reaching a record high.
Subaru sales in the United States also maintained a 73 consecutive months of growth, in December rose 0.3%, although the smallest increase in the previous month, but enough to make its annual sales hit a new high, reaching 647,956 units.
Hyundai also saw its first monthly sales increase, with sales in the U.S. market edged up 1.8% and sold 61,646 vehicles in December. The Kia brand fell 21% in December compared with 6.5% and 19% for the Mazda and Volkswagen brands respectively. Mitsubishi rose 15% in December.
In terms of luxury brands, sales of Mercedes-Benz in December increased 10% YoY and BMW and Audi reached 4.3% and 16% respectively, while sales of Jaguar fell 21% in December while Land Rover and Porsche slid 3.6% and 2.5% respectively.
