2014 Year End U.S. Auto Sales by Brand, Corporations, etc..

[King T]

Mitsubishi Motors Ends 2014 With Dramatic Sales Increase

-- Total sales for 2014 is 77,643 units -- a 24.8 percent increase over 2013

-- December 2014 marks tenth consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases

-- December sales of 6,545 units mark the best December since 2006

-- Outlander Sport has best-ever December sales month at 2,755 units

CYPRESS, Calif., Jan. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is pleased to report total vehicle sales for 2014 at 77,643 units, marking a 24.8 percent sales increase over 2013. The brand's strong momentum through 2014 was carried into the month of December, which was the tenth consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases with a total of 6,545 units sold.

Highlights of 2014 sales include a 24.5 percent increase from 2013 for the Outlander Sport and a 6.4 percent increase from 2013 for Outlander. December 2014 was the best-ever December for the Outlander Sport with 2,755 units sold, and Mirage continued its strong sales pace with 1,135 units sold.

"December marked the tenth consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases and helped us close out the year with an increase of nearly 25% over the previous year," said Don Swearingen, Executive Vice President MMNA. "Our core models lead the way with Outlander Sport having its best-ever sales year since its introduction, Mirage selling well beyond expectations and Outlander coming in strong up over 6% for the year.

"As we move into 2015 we will start to introduce new versions of the Outlander with more refinement and power in what will be the first of a series of launches that will incorporate the brand's new design language and vehicle packaging."

Mitsubishi 2014 Sales:
Galant-122
i-MiEV-196
Mirage-16,708
Lancer-16,495
Outlander-13,068
Outlander Sport-31,054
Total-77,643

[FenwickHockey65]

I still don't know how Mitsubishi makes any profit in North America whatsoever.

[Kyle2k]

I'm happy that chrysler group is taking some market share back, pretty happy with my new 200S

[King T]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

I still don't know how Mitsubishi makes any profit in North America whatsoever.

It hasn't Fen. This is the first year since 2007 that Mistubishi has turned a profit in the U.S. and the first time since 2011 they have sold 75,000+ vehicles in a year.

[King T]

Originally Posted by Kyle2k

I'm happy that chrysler group is taking some market share back, pretty happy with my new 200S

Glad to hear it. I saw (and sat) in the 200 at the Detroit Auto Show last year and again this year too, I think they are very nice.

[King T]

Scion Hopes Older Target, New Models Will End Slump
Brand Has Struggled for Years

After struggling for years, Toyota's youth-oriented Scion brand aims to get back on a fast growth track by adding products that are more pragmatic and by gearing its advertising to a slightly older crowd.

For dealers who remained loyal -- and that has been nearly all of the 1,000-some retailers -- the patience could soon pay off.

Scion is targeting sales of 100,000 in a few years, after watching volume slump 15 percent to 58,009 units in 2014.

"Our goal is to get back over 100,000 units within the next couple years," brand boss Doug Murtha said at the Detroit auto show. "150,000 is where we'd love to be, and I think that is a reasonable level."

Mr. Murtha pointed to the pre-recession glory days of 2006 when Scion was selling 173,000 units with only three nameplates, just three years after the brand's launch in 2003.

"We've shown that the dealer network, with the right product lineup, could go from zero to 173,000 in fundamentally three calendar years," Mr. Murtha said. "I think we can very easily get back over 100,000 with the right products."

Late arrivals
Today, Scion has five -- though it hasn't added a new one for three years and is discontinuing two: the boxy xB and the Yaris-based xD hatchback. The good news is that two new cars arrive in 2015; the bad news is that they arrive toward the end of the year.

That means Scion expects minimal if any sales growth in 2015 while it waits for those two vehicles to arrive.

One will be a sporty hatchback dubbed the iM that is based on the Auris hatchback sold in Europe and Japan. The other will be an as-yet-unnamed sedan, the first four-door in the Scion lineup.

Scion remains a dark spot on an otherwise sparkling sales chart for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., which booked healthy sales gains in 2014 for both the Toyota and Lexus brands. Scion sales fell to 45,678 units in 2010 after peaking at 173,034 units in 2006.

With volume slumping in 2013, the brand signaled that dealers who didn't have the stomach to ride out the storm were free to leave.

In November 2013, Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda urged U.S. retailers to be patient for "a few years" as the company prepared new product.

Most dealers heeded that plea, Mr. Murtha said. Scion had 1,006 dealers back then; today it has 1,003.

"The message we heard back was 'They get it,'" Mr. Murtha said. "And when push comes to shove, they don't want to give up."

The two vehicles arriving this year represent two of the three new models Scion says it will bring to market in the next three years. The five-door iM hatchback marks the brand's first new design in three years. Scion is promising a car that is sleek, sporty and priced below $20,000.

Scion offered no details about the upcoming sedan. Automotive News has reported that the car will be a derivative of the Mazda2 compact made in Salamanca, Mexico.

New trends
The sedan is part of Scion's mandate to try new things. The design will be "polarizing," Mr. Murtha said, but it also will respond to two trends Scion is trying to tap.

One is buyers who are more pragmatic than they were during the heady days before the global financial crisis. People have less money to spend and want more functionality from their cars; they are less concerned about making a trendy statement.

"There is an element of pragmatism. … No. 1 is the financial reality," Mr. Murtha said. "It has to be more one-size-fits-all. They are unable to be as frivolous with their vehicle purchase as someone 10 years before them."
The other trend is a slightly older audience.

Scion is tweaking its advertising, which is handled by San Francisco-based Attik, to target a hypothetical customer aged 26, instead of 22 as before, Mr. Murtha said. This isn't the first time the brand tries to grow by aiming older.
Both forces will deliver cars a little less quirky.

The third of the three upcoming products is rumored to be a compact crossover. Mr. Murtha declined to offer details, calling it a product "that's not going to as easily fit into a bucket."

He said the product plans call for "that little dose of pragmatism."

Mr. Murtha said: "As we've tested some product concepts that head out there on the quirky end of the spectrum, the interest in that has diminished."

[King T]

Jeep Sales Record 692,348 in U.S., Trek Past 1 Million Mark Worldwide in 2014

When FCA Chief Sergio Marchionne told reporters at last year’s Detroit Auto Show he expected Jeep to sell 1 million units worldwide in 2014, many considered it a stretch goal, especially since the original forecast was for about 800,000 units. Well, what Sergio wants, it appears he gets as frenzied U.S. sales helped propel Jeep past the mark.

Jeep set a new all-time record for the third consecutive year with sales of 1,017,019, which bettered the brand’s 2013 record of 731,565 by 39%.

“2014 marks the fifth consecutive year that Jeep vehicle sales have increased both globally and in the U.S. market,” said Mike Manley, president and CEO – Jeep Brand. “While we are especially pleased with the way the new Jeep Cherokee is resonating in the marketplace, the fact is that every vehicle in the Jeep lineup recorded significant worldwide sales gains.”

Marchionne’s faith in the brand, which he reinforced in May when he reiterated his goal that Jeep sales should exceed 1 million units this year, may have been rooted in real logic. This year marked the fifth consecutive year of increased Jeep sales, both globally and in the U.S.

In 2013, the brand recorded increases of 4% globally and 3% in the U.S. The previous three years saw increases of: 19% globally and 13% U.S. (2012); 41% globally and 44% U.S. (2011); and 24% globally and 26% U.S. (2010).

The success of Jeep has been enormously beneficial to its parent company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, as well, contributing significantly FCA’s exceptional results in the U.S. both in December and throughout 2014. Jeep’s growth, and FCA in general, has been driven by new products that have appealed to both FCA loyalists and owners of competitive makes, according to IHS Automotive Analyst Tom Libby.

Libby said IHS Automotive registration data shows that the Jeep brand’s loyalty has increased the most of any brand in the industry through the first 10 months of 2014, which is the most recent data available.

The data also shows that Jeep’s increase in conquests from competitors – relative to defections – has been greater than that of any other brand in the industry. Jeep’s appeal to both prior Jeep owners as well as owners of competitive products “has propelled the brand to extraordinary sales and share gains throughout 2014, and these gains have played a key role in FCA Automobiles’ success,” Libby said.

Jeep made the conquests despite some intense criticism from Consumer Reports. The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited recently wound up at the bottom of the magazine’s New-Car Value ratings.

“Known best for its off-road ability, the hard-riding, ponderous, uncomfortable and unreliable Wrangler has a Value Score of 0.07, and costs $0.77 per mile to operate,” the magazine said of the Wrangler.

Jeep, however, has been able to shrug off the criticism, in part, because customers seem to like its rugged authenticity, which is built on its off-road capability and its heritage as a military vehicle. The U.S. Army used Jeeps from 1940 when the first one was built in Toledo, Ohio, until nearly the very end of the Cold War in 1989.

Manley also noted Jeep is well positioned to set another record to 2015 as production of Jeep-branded vehicles spread to Europe for the first time with production of the compact Jeep Renegade, which is scheduled to go on sale in March and Jeep’s return to China where it can claim to have been instrumental in launching the country’s automotive revolution with its Beijing Jeep venture.

“While achieving 1 million vehicle sales in 2014 was certainly a milestone, 2015 will be a transformational year in the globalization of the brand, as we begin local manufacturing in Brazil and return to local manufacturing in China after an absence of nearly a decade,” Manley added.

“We will strive to continue our sales momentum in 2015 with a full lineup of capable and efficient SUVs – including the all-new 2015 Jeep Renegade, as it arrives in showrooms in markets around the world.” Manley said.

In addition to its 39% global increase, Jeep sales rose 41% in the U.S. in 2014, with a record 692,348 total sales.

Jeep sales rose 40% in Europe, Middle East & Africa region and 42% in the Asia-Pacific region in 2014. In China – the world’s largest automobile market – sales rose 49%.

Jeep sales were led globally and in the U.S. by Grand Cherokee with 279,567 units globally and 183,786 in the U.S. They were followed by: Cherokee (236,289 global; 178,508 U.S.); Wrangler (234,579 global; 175,328 U.S.); Compass (134,629 global; 61,264 U.S.); and Patriot (122,387 global; 93,462 U.S.).

Currently, the Jeep vehicle lineup consists of the Cherokee, Compass, Grand Cherokee, Patriot, Renegade, Wrangler and Wrangler Unlimited. To meet consumer demand around the world, all Jeep models sold outside North America are available in both left and right-hand drive configurations and with gasoline and diesel powertrain options.

[2010SLVRBULIT]

As good as a VW is, their sedans need major overhaul in the looks dept.

[King T]

MINI Brand Sales down 15.6% for 2014

MINI USA reported its best December with sales of 6,615 automobiles, an increase of .3 percent from the 6,592 sold in the same month a year ago. For the year, MINI sales in the U.S. are down 15.6 percent to 56,112 compared to 66,502 in 2013.

[King T]

• Second-best year for fifth-gen Camaro

• Mustang was on a roll at the end of 2014

• Challenger growth continues in sixth consecutive year

2014 was the fifth consecutive year in which the Chevrolet Camaro outsold its two key rivals in the United States.

2015, however, could present far different results.

Leading up to the sixth-generation Mustang’s arrival, the Camaro led the Mustang by nearly 11,000 sales through the first ten months of 2014.

But Ford sold 8,728 Mustangs in America in November, a 62% year-over-year improvement, basically double the number of Camaros sold that month.


By the end of December – when Mustang sales shot up 66% to 9,511 units – the gap was closed to 3,662 units. That was nearly on par with 2013, when the Camaro ended the year 3,381 sales ahead.

While much of the Mustang’s late-2014 success can be attributed to the hyped MY2015 car’s arrival, these big numbers did appear at the onset of winter. Prime Mustang buying season typically revolves around the months of May and June. In 2012, for instance, the last time Ford sold more than 80,000 Mustangs in America, one-quarter of the nameplate’s total year-end sales occurred during May and June.

In other words, we may not grasp the car’s full potential for marketplace success in its home market until the end of 2015’s second quarter.

Meanwhile, sales of the fifth-generation Camaro climbed to the second-highest level yet: up 7% compared with 2013, down just 2% from the 2011 high-water mark. Sales of the Dodge Challenger increased for a sixth consecutive year. Admittedly, the gains were marginal. But Challenger volume was down 10% through the end of September before monthly year-over-year gains of 27%, 51%, and 72% closed out the year.

The Challenger and Mustang weren’t the only cars to power the category to a massive December, either. The Camaro, though only second in the segment at the end of the year, shot up 32% in December, indicating that if the newer Mustang and Challenger stole any sales from the Chevy, GM managed to find many more elsewhere. The trio jumped 55% to 21,077 units in December, equal to 3.1% of the overall passenger car market.

Chevrolet Camaro
2014-86,297
2013-80,567
% Change: 7.1%

Ford Mustang
2014-82,635
2013-77,186
% Change: 7.1%

Dodge Challenger
2014-51,611
2013-51,462
% Change: 0.3%

[King T]

U.S. Midsize Truck Sales In 2014

General Motors’ U.S. market share in the small/midsize truck category grew in December 2014 to 21.1% from 13.9% in November. According to inventory statistics from Automotive News, GM dealers had approximately 9,400 Chevrolet Colorados and GMC Canyons in stock at the beginning of December.

Yet a booming auto industry and a surging pickup market meant that even with this new level of competition from the GM midsize pickups, widely regarded as the modern members of the class, the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier each posted 12% year-over-year improvements in December.


Naturally, the arrival of competition that didn’t exist a year before brought down their market share, but the Tacoma added 1,523 sales; the Frontier another 649.

Although the Colorado and Canyon arrived in numbers at the beginning of the fourth-quarter, we’ve yet to see their full impact. Toyota appears inclined to rest on their laurels – and their profit-building platform – with their refresh of the Tacoma.

The current Ridgeline is fading fast. Nissan has gone back and forth on future Frontier plans, but we do know we can expect something new in the not too distant future.

Non-full-size trucks accounted for 11.3% of the overall pickup market in 2013, a figure which fell to 10.9% in calendar year 2014. Results at the end of the year didn’t tell a significantly altered story, as these five pickups combined to generate just 11.1% of the U.S. auto industry’s pickup volume.

The reason? While the small/midsize trucks combined for a 34% year-over-year improvement, sales of three major full-size pickups – Silverado, Ram, Sierra – jumped 34%, as well, driving the full-size market to a 211,000-unit total.

Will 2015 be any different?

Toyota Tacoma
2014-155,041
2013-159,485
% Change: -2.8%


Nissan Frontier
2014-74,323
2013-62,837
% Change: 18.3%


Honda Ridgeline
2014-13,389
2013-17,723
% Change: -24.5%


Chevrolet Colorado
2014-8,003
(New Model)


GMC Canyon
2014-3,070
(New Model)

[King T]

U.S. Full-Size Truck Sales In 2014

Sales of pickup trucks in the home of the pickup truck, the United States, rose 6.6% to 2.32 million in calendar year 2014, an increase of 144,586 units. Pickup trucks soared to their highest total of 2014 during the month of December, climbing 18% to 237,635, equal to 14% of the overall auto industry’s new vehicle volume.

Full-size trucks generated 88.9% of all pickup sales activity in December, down from 90.1% a year ago as General Motors contributed more than 5500 Colorado/Canyon sales to the mix, strengthening the small corner of the market held by small/midsize pickups.

Led by big GM improvements, the full-size sector grew by 30,522 units last month. The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra combined to outsell the Ford F-Series, as it transition to a 2015 F-150, by 6,918 units. Joining GM’s surge, Ram P/U sales shot up 32% to 44,222 units, making December the third month in 2014 that Ram sales shot beyond the 40K mark.

Over the course of 2014, the F-Series outsold the GM twins by 12,263 units. Predictably, Ford suffered market share losses. Perhaps less predictably, it was Ram and not GM which managed to eat up the larger chunk of Ford’s lost share. Ford’s share of the full-size category slid by more than three percentage points; Ram picked up slightly less than three percentage points.

GM’s market share improved more noticeably at the end of the year, however. In December, for example, GM’s share of the full-size truck market jumped from 33.4% to 38.5%, year-over-year.

As Ford replaced its core F-150 pickup at the end of the year, rival automakers took advantage of the opportunity to earn market share.

Even combined, the Silverado and Sierra - top sellers in the latter portion of 2014 - couldn't unseat the F-Series on total calendar year terms. The F-Series grabbed 32.5% of the truck market; 36.5% of the full-size category.


What impact can smaller trucks have in 2015? Will fuel economy be a concern by the second-half of 2015 as it was in the first-half of 2014? Might Toyota see its revamped-but-not-all-new Tundra stumble as the market expands? Can a new Nissan Titan make headway?

Ford F-Series
2014-753,851
2013-763,402
% Change: -1.3%
2014 Marketshare: 36.5% (2013 Share-39.9%)


Chevrolet Silverado
2014-529,755
2013-480,414
% Change: 10.3%
2014 Marketshare: 35.9% (combined Silverado/Sierra shares) (2013 Share-34.8%)


Ram P/U
2014-439,789
2013-355,673
% Change: 23.7%
2014 Marketshare: 21.3% (2013 Share-18.6%)


GMC Sierra
2014-211,833
2013-184,389
% Change: 14.9%
2014 Marketshare: 35.9% (combined Silverado/Sierra shares) (2013 Share-34.8%)


Toyota Tundra
2014-118,493
2013-112,732
% Change: 5.1%
2014 Marketshare: 5.7% (2013 Share-5.9%)


Nissan Titan
2014-12,527
2013-15,691
% Change: -20.2%
2014 Marketshare: 0.6% (2013 Share-0.8%)

[King T]

U.S. Subcompact Car Sales In 2014

• Segment grows in a stagnant car market

• New Mazda 2 arrives this year

With the hatchback Note available for the duration of the 2014 calendar year, Nissan’s Versa lineup posted huge year-over-year gains in the United States in 2014.

Total Versa volume jumped 19%, or 22,429 units, to a class-leading 139,781 sales in 2014.

Had Versa volume declined 19%, it still would have ended 2014 as America’s top-selling subcompact. The Versa’s market share in the strict confines of this nine-car subcompact category grew from 23.3% in 2013 to 26.8% in 2014.


The latter stages of 2014 were slightly more difficult for the Versa, as interest in the Honda Fit continued to build and even Toyota’s revamped Yaris generated far more sales activity than is usual. The Versa’s December share slid to 22.9%.

The subcompact segment as a whole was surprisingly strong given the tendency of consumers to veer away from cars in 2014. The total car market was up less than 2%, but subcompact volume increased nearly 4%. Strong growth from the second-ranked Chevrolet Sonic was a big help. An all-new Fit produced year-end gains of nearly 6000 units.

On the flip side, the Hyundai Accent’s improvements were not sufficient to overcome the losses of its platform-mate, the Kia Rio. The ST halo hatch has not provided the Fiesta lineup with any boost: sales fell 11% in 2014, and the Fiesta fell from third place in the category in 2013 to fourth in 2014. The Fiesta ranked fifth in U.S. subcompact sales in the fourth-quarter.

Theorists may suggest that low fuel prices would hamper subcompacts, yet December’s 10% year-over-year improvement stands in stark contrast to that message. That said, subcompacts remain rare cars in the U.S. The larger siblings of just these nine cars – Cruze, Focus, Civic, Elantra, Forte, 3, Sentra, Corolla – combined for more than 1.7 million U.S. sales in 2014, more than triple the total number of sales achieved by these subcompacts.

Back at Nissan, the Versa’s strong performance was representative of a brand which grew at a rate that was far above average in 2014. Moreover, Nissan possesses a car lineup which expanded its sales in spite of the fact that the U.S. auto industry sourced much of its growth from SUVs and crossovers. Total Nissan brand sales jumped 12% to record highs in 2014 as industry-wide volume rose 6%.

Nissan Versa
2014-139,781
2013-117,352
% Change: 19.1%


Chevrolet Sonic
2014-93,518
2013-85,646
% Change: 9.2%


Hyundai Accent
2014-63,309
2013-60,458
% Change: 4.7%


Ford Fiesta
2014-63,192
2013-71,073
% Change: -11.1%


Honda Fit
2014-59,340
2013-53,513
% Change: 10.9%


Toyota Prius C
2014-40,570
2013-41,979
% Change: -3.4%


Kia Rio
2014-35,933
2013-40,742
% Change: -11.8%


Mazda 2
2014-13,615
2013-11,757
% Change: 15.8%


Toyota Yaris
2014-13,274
2013-21,342
% Change: -37.8%

[King T]

U.S. Small Car Sales - 2014 Year End

America's passenger car market grew by less than 2% in 2014, but compact car volume was up 3% and subcompact volume jumped 4%.

From the best-selling compact, Toyota's Corolla (up 12% to 339,498 units), to the top-selling Nissan Versa subcompact (up 19% to a record-high 139,781 units), to off-beat small cars like the Kia Soul (up 23% to a record-high 145,316), a wide variety of small cars posted meaningful improvements compared with 2013.

But there were also cars which struggled to match 2013's pace. The Honda Civic slid 3% in 2014. Ford Focus volume fell 6%. The Mitsubishi Lancer, already wildly unpopular, fell 15%. The Ford Fiesta, Kia Rio, and two Toyota subcompacts posted losses, as well. Outside the mainstream, the Fiat 500, Hyundai Veloster, Mini Cooper, Scion tC, and Volkswagen Beetle combined for an 18% year-over-year decline.

2015 will be a year of great change, as many of these mainstream, high-volume cars face new challengers from subcompact utility vehicles like the Honda HR-V, Chevrolet Trax, Jeep Renegade, and Fiat 500X, a segment of crossover that's already begun eating into conventional small car volume.