Jan. 3, 2014—Automakers released their December sales numbers on Friday, and according to many reports, The Detroit Three of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler appear to be pacing the industry.
All three companies showed year-over-year increases in sales, with many Ford models setting annual sales records, and Chrysler having its best December sales period in six years.
Chrysler saw sales increase 6 percent with 161,007 cars sold in December, and, for the entire year, saw an increase of sales by 9 percent—the company’s strongest annual sales since 2007, Chrysler reported.
Ford released sales information on its website showing that annual sales records were set for the Fiesta, Fusion, Escape, and F series of vehicles with nearly 2.5 million total vehicles sold in 2013. For December, total sales reached 218,058 vehicles, an increase of 2 percent, with retail up 3 percent. Retail sales are up 14 percent for the year.
“December was a strong close to an even better year for Ford Motor Company,” said John Felice, Ford vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service. “We saw strong growth across the entire Ford lineup and made significant gains in the import-dominated coastal markets. Strong demand for our new cars, utilities, hybrids, and trucks provided Ford with the largest share point gain of any full-line automaker in 2013.”
Meanwhile, General Motors (GM) revealed on its website that it delivered 2.8 million vehicles in 2013. Retail sales increased 11 percent, and total sales were up 7 percent compared to 2012.
With 230,157 vehicles delivered, GM’s December sales twere down 6 percent versus 2012’s final month of sales, but the company was optimistic.
“2013 was the year that GM and the auto industry put the last traces of the recession in the rearview mirror, so now we can devote our full attention to the things that matter most to customers: compelling design, world-class quality, and delivering the best ownership experience in the business,” said Kurt McNeil, vice president of U.S. sales operations. “GM has laid a strong foundation to pursue all of these goals. We have announced more than $10 billion in capital investments in the United States since 2009, and plowed billions more into R&D to refresh our product portfolio at twice the rate of the last few years.”
Sales details for makes and models can be found online at the Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler websites.
