This Is How The U.S. Auto Market Has Changed In 2012

The Ford F-Series Accounted For 4.3% Of All 
Vehicles Sold In America In The First 10 
Months Of 2012, Down Slightly From 
4.4% In The Same Period A Year Ago

America's new vehicle market has grown substantially over the last couple of years. Though not back to the size it was a decade ago, the U.S. automobile industry is certainly a bigger enterprise than it was in 2011, which was an improvement over 2010, which was a big improvement over the 2009 doldrums.

With growth comes change. GCBC's secretary, a Labrador Retriever puppy named Penelope, gets faster with her extra pounds. She also grows more hair, which means more shedding. And she can now walk over children, where before she only jumped on them if they were down. 

Indeed, growth requires change.

The FR-S Has Added 8572 Sales
To Scion's Total So Far This Year

The car market grows in fits and starts and does so with the help of different companies. Of late, the Japanese, namely Toyota and Honda, are finding numbers much more befitting of America's two favourite Japanese brands. Volkswagen has cut prices and continues to find many more buyers as a result. But with Saab, Suzuki, and Mercury dead or dying, other brands must pick up the slack.

Percentages aren't the only numbers on which an analyst should rely. If we're attempting to ascertain the locations from which growth stemmed, Fiat's 20,636-unit increase, a 130% year-over-year gain, doesn't tell us much in the grand scheme of things. Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram have all added more sales to Chrysler Group's October 2012 year-to-date total.

All 265 Vehicles Ranked By U.S. October YTD Sales

But percentage changes do mean something. We don't expect Fiat to sell in vast quantities, nor do we believe Bentley will find hundreds of thousands of U.S. buyers on an annual basis. The second table visible after the jump is a better way of finding out how one automaker compares against itself. Fiat sales are up 130% this year. Good for Fiat. But from a U.S. market change perspective, Toyota's 340,178 extra sales are much more meaningful.

The 9-4X Accounted For 4% Of The Saabs
Sold In America In The First 10 Months Of
2011, But No Saabs Have Been Sold This Year

Finally, because of the market's overall growth, one automaker's ability to sell more cars doesn't necessarily mean life is good at Company HQ. Ford has sold 87,951 more vehicles in 2012 than in the first ten months of 2011, a 5.2% improvement. But Ford's share of the overall market has fallen from 16.1% to 14.9%. Toyota's share has improved, rising from 10.8% to 12.3%, not a great deal below what Chevrolet has managed this year.

Historical monthly and yearly sales figures for each of these brands can be accessed through the dropdown menu at GCBC's Sales Stats home. You can also find model-specific sales figures through the same menu. Select Chrysler, for instance, and you can view sales figures for either the Chrysler brand or the Chrysler 300, 200, or Town & Country. It's easy, and it's enormously useful.

After the jump, however, there's a ton of information which ranks automakers by year-to-date improvements and market share. Discuss the findings amongst yourselves.

Rank	Automaker	October 2012  YTD Volume Increase/Decline	YOY %  Change
#1	Toyota	340,178	+ 30.0%
#2	Honda	187,626	+ 21.9%
#3	Volkswagen	93,912	+ 35.6%
#4	Ford	87,951	+ 5.2%
#5	Chrysler	84,893	+ 47.5%
#6	Nissan	73,434	+ 9.4%
#7	Kia	72,271	+ 17.8%
#8	Chevrolet	69,951	+ 4.7%
#9	Jeep	59,687	+ 17.6%
#10	Subaru	55,951	+ 25.9%
#11	Dodge	53,348	+ 14.1%
#12	Hyundai	44,769	+ 8.2%
#13	Lexus	37,101	+ 24.1%
#14	Ram	34,368	+ 16.3%
#15	Acura	27,675	+ 27.6%
#16	Mercedes-Benz	26,039	+ 12.6%
#17	Scion	20,818	+ 50.1%
#18	Fiat	20,636	+ 130.4%
#19	Mazda	18,463	+ 8.8%
#20	Audi	17,196	+ 18.1%
#21	Infiniti	16,310	+ 20.6%
#22	GMC	13,585	+ 4.2%
#23	BMW	13,296	+ 6.7%
#24	Mini	7369	+ 15.7%
#25	Land Rover	5267	+ 17.8%
#26	smart	4225	+ 103.5%
#27	Porsche	3292	+ 13.2%
#28	Bentley	444	+ 31.2%
#29	Maserati	332	+ 17.5%
#30	Jaguar	25	+ 0.2%
#31	Mercury	- 248	- 100%
#32	Suzuki	- 1043	- 4.7%
#33	Buick	- 1133	- 0.7%
#34	Volvo	- 1228	- 2.2%
#35	Lincoln	- 1901	- 2.7%
#36	Saab	- 4984	- 100%
#37	Cadillac	- 7968	- 6.4%
#38	Mitsubishi	- 20,150	- 28.7%
---	Total U.S. Market	1,452,006	+ 13.8%

Rank	Automaker	October 2012  YTD % Increase/Decline	October 2011 YTD % Increase/Decline
#1	Fiat	+ 130.4%	-----
#2	smart	+ 103.5%	- 20.6%
#3	Scion	+ 50.1%	+ 9.7%
#4	Chrysler	+ 47.5%	+ 2.4%
#5	Volkswagen	+ 35.6%	+ 23.8%
#6	Bentley	+ 31.2%	+ 32.4%
#7	Toyota	+ 30.0%	- 8.3%
#8	Acura	+ 27.6%	- 6.6%
#9	Subaru	+ 25.9%	- 0.3%
#10	Lexus	+ 24.1%	- 16.2%
#11	Honda	+ 21.9%	- 5.1%
#12	Infiniti	+ 20.6%	- 4.5%
#13	Audi	+ 18.1%	+ 16.5%
#14	Kia	+ 17.8%	+ 35.4%
#15	Land Rover	+ 17.8%	+ 14.6%
#16	Jeep	+ 17.6%	+ 43.9%
#17	Maserati	+ 17.5%	+ 22.8%
#18	Ram	+ 16.3%	+ 24.1%
#19	Mini	+ 15.7%	+ 22.1%
#20	Dodge	+ 14.1%	+ 14.9%
---	Total U.S. Market	+ 13.8%	+ 10.1%
#21	Porsche	+ 13.2%	+ 22.6%
#22	Mercedes-Benz	+ 12.6%	+ 12.0%
#23	Nissan	+ 9.4%	+ 17.7%
#24	Mazda	+ 8.8%	+ 8.7%
#25	Hyundai	+ 8.2%	+ 20.5%
#26	BMW	+ 6.7%	+ 12.9%
#27	Ford	+ 5.2%	+ 17.3%
#28	Chevrolet	+ 4.7%	+ 14.3%
#29	GMC	+ 4.2%	+ 23.1%
#30	Jaguar	+ 0.2%	- 3.6%
#31	Buick	- 0.7%	+ 19.9%
#32	Volvo	- 2.2%	+ 26.5%
#33	Lincoln	- 2.7%	+ 1.2%
#34	Suzuki	- 4.7%	+ 16.9%
#35	Cadillac	- 6.4%	+ 5.6%
#36	Mitsubishi	- 28.7%	+ 51.1%

Rank	Automaker	October 2012  YTD Market Share	YOY Point Change
#1	Ford	14.88%	- 1.21
#2	Chevrolet	12.97%	- 1.13
#3	Toyota	12.29%	+ 1.54
#4	Honda	8.72%	+ 0.58
#5	Nissan	7.09%	- 0.29
#6	Hyundai	4.92%	- 0.25
#7	Kia	3.98%	+ 0.14
#8	Dodge	3.61%	+ 0.1
#9	Jeep	3.33%	+ 0.11
#10	Volkswagen	2.98%	+ 0.48
#11	GMC	2.84%	- 0.26
#12	Subaru	2.26%	+ 0.21
#13	Chrysler	2.20%	+ 0.5
#14	Ram	2.04%	+ 0.4
#15	Mercedes-Benz	1.94%	- 0.02
#16	Mazda	1.90%	- 0.09
#17	BMW	1.77%	- 0.12
#18	Lexus	1.59%	+ 0.13
#19	Buick	1.26%	- 0.18
#20	Acura	1.07%	+ 0.12
#21	Cadillac	0.98%	- 0.21
#22	Audi	0.94%	+ 0.04
#23	Infiniti	0.80%	+ 0.05
#24	Lincoln	0.58%	- 0.09
#25	Scion	0.52%	+ 0.13
#26	Volvo	0.47%	- 0.07
#27	Mini	0.45%	0.0
#28	Mitsubishi	0.42%	- 0.22
#29	Fiat	0.30%	+ 0.15
#30	Land Rover	0.29%	+ 0.01
#31	Porsche	0.24%	0.0
#32	Suzuki	0.18%	- 0.03
#33	Jaguar	0.09%	- 0.01
#34	smart	0.07%	+ 0.031
---	Other *	0.026%	- 0.001
#35	Maserati	0.019%	+ 0.001
#36	Bentley	0.016%	+ 0.003
#37	Saab	0.0%	- 0.047
#38	Mercury	0.0%	- 0.002%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC
* ANDC estimates for Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maybach & Rolls-Royce

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - October 2012 & YTD
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - October 2011 & YTD
All 265 Vehicles Ranked By October 2012 YTD U.S. Sales
Historic Monthly & Yearly U.S. Auto Market Size