Are Americans Buying Fewer Trucks? Yes, Yes, And No

Too little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Here's what you've heard: pickup truck sales are on the rise in America. You also remembering hearing that, in 2009, full-size pickup truck sales had steadily fallen year after year since 2004. 

Clicking through truck sales figures by accessing the dropdown menu at the top right of this page is certainly informative, but it can be slightly misleading, as well. Yes, U.S. Ford F-Series sales fell each year from 2004 through 2009. Yes, Ford F-Series sales have increased both in 2010 and in 2011. Does this say something about the Ford F-Series or does it simply speak to the market as a whole?

America's six core full-size models, excluding the Chevrolet Avalanche and Cadillac Escalade EXT and any Lincoln entry, found 2,456,656 buyers in 2004 and just 1,117,706 buyers in 2009. It's hard to believe that pickup truck popularity died off that much relative to the popularity of passenger cars or SUVs or crossovers. In fact, during that period in which sales of those six trucks collectively dropped 54.5%, America's new vehicle market plunged 38.3%. Though the full-size truck market admittedly became less popular, sales weren't simply cut in half. America's new vehicle market was a much smaller playing field. Those six trucks were fighting for a slice of shrinking pie.

Nevertheless, the second chart in this post makes very clear that when the market shrunk, the market for America's six full-size offerings caved more precipitously. Those six trucks accounted for 14.5% of the overall new vehicle market in 2004 but just 10.7% in 2004. And now that the market has started to grow again - up to 11.6 million sales in 2010 and 12.8 million sales in 2011 - trucks are playing a larger role once again. The F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado, Dodge Ram, GMC Sierra, Nissan Titan, and Toyota Tundra accounted for 11.6% of the new vehicle market in 2010 and 11.7% in 2011.

All of this is explained by the two charts GoodCarBadCar compiled and inserted below. But it's not explained by simply scanning the sales figures for one vehicle and assuming the worst, or the best.

Click Either Chart For A Larger View

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Trucks In America - 2011 Year End
Complete U.S. Truck Sales Chart - 2011 Year End
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Auto Brand Market Share In America - 2011 Year End

How Important Is The Cayenne? Porsche Cayenne Market Share In America: 2003 - 2011

The extent to which Porsche requires the Cayenne to supply its daily bread has fluctuated wildly since March 2003 when Porsche's SUV went on sale in America. 

There have been three major factors affecting the depth of the Cayenne's importance to Porsche. For starters, there was no Cayman until 2006. Second, there was no Panamera until 2009 and the impact of Porsche's S-Class/7-Series/A8/XJ/M5 fighter wasn't truly felt by Porsche USA until 2010. Finally, the first-gen Cayenne was struggling to find buyers in the latter part of 2009 but the second-gen model helped the Cayenne to take off in 2011.

First-Generation Porsche Cayenne

There's no doubt that the Cayenne is essential to Porsche's livelihood. While it doesn't make up the majority of the company's U.S. sales, it is routinely Porsche's best-selling model. By times, the Cayenne is overwhelmingly popular on occasions when the company's sports cars are, for one reason or another, failing to appeal to buyers. Consider 2011 as an example: Boxster sales fell 19% as clients waited for the soon-to-arrive next-gen car and Panamera sales were also down sharply. Yet, with a slight rise in 911 sales, a minor boost in Cayman sales, and a well-timed Cayenne reintroduction, Porsche's year-over-year sales increase outpaced the industry.

It's not exactly surprising to see that the Cayenne's portion of Porsche's overall volume fall in 2005. Fuel prices began to have a major impact on vehicle purchases that year and SUVs were subsequently not in style. The Cayman, though niche, still impacted the Cayenne's share of sales in 2006 and 2007, just as the Panamera did in 2010. But most recently, the Porsche Cayenne accounted for 44.7% of all Porsche USA sales. Without it, Porsche sales would have totalled 16,045 in 2011, lower than the total put up in pre-Cayenne 2002.


For the record, 6% of all Porsches sold in the United States this year were Boxsters. The Cayman formed another 5% of the total; the 911 accounted for a slightly more than one in five Porsche USA sales, and the Panamera made up 24% of Porsche's 29,023 sales, more about which you can read here. It's also worth selecting multiple cars in the dropdown menu at the top right of this page to source historical sales figures - monthly and yearly, Canadian and American - for any model currently on sale.

CLICK CHART FOR LARGER VIEW

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - 2011 Year End
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - 2011 Year End
Luxury Auto Brand Market Share In America - 2011 Year End
Porsche Sales In America: 2002-2011

Porsche Sales In America: 2002 - 2011

Porsche began selling cars in the United States decades ago. In the last ten years, Porsche USA enjoyed four years which were better than 2011. The last twelve months were, however, 14.6% better than 2010. And 2010, remember, was 28.6% better than 2009, Porsche's worst year of the last decade.

Porsche has been a fast-changing automotive brand over the last ten years. In 2002, Porsche sold just the 911 and Boxster. Porsche began selling the the Cayenne in March 2003. The Cayman came along in 2006. Finally, Porsche brought the Panamera online in 2009. The 2014 Cajun will further improve Porsche's U.S. sales volume. 

So, follow this: from 2003 to 2011, a time in which America's car market shrunk 23.4%, Porsche sales increased 2.1%. Between those years there were some massive fluctuations, both in the overall size of America's car market and Porsche's U.S. sales volume. More importantly, there were the aforementioned changes to Porsche's expanding model lineup. 

GoodCarBadCar's already published similar charts on the U.S. sales fluctuations reported by Bentley and Maserati over the last decade. More recent numbers can be researched through the dropdown menu in the top right of this screen or in the U.S. 2011 Sales section of GoodCarBadCar.

CLICK CHART FOR A LARGER VIEW

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - 2011 Year End
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - 2011 Year End
Luxury Auto Brand Market Share In America - 2011 Year End
Bentley Motors Sales In America: 2002 - 2011
Maserati Sales In America: 2002 - 2011

Maserati Sales In America: 2002 - 2011

In the United States, Maserati sold 2321 cars in 2011. That's more than Bentley sold but less than half as many as smart. Not that smart and Maserati are direct competitors. Because they aren't. But there is the whole European two-seat thing going on at both brands. 

Anyhow, 2011 proved to be a favoloso year for Maserati. Sales jumped 22.4% in an overall market which rose just 10.3%. In the last decade, only Maserati's booming years of 2007 and 2008 were better. Maserati USA's 2011 sales total was 2.7 times better than it was a decade ago. 

And there's better news, at least for Maserati's output; if not for its image: the 2013 Kubang is likely going to do for Maserati what the Cayenne did for Porsche. 

Study the chart below for a closer look at what Fiat-owned Maserati has been able to accomplish over the last ten years in America. An already-published chart just like this one lays out Bentley's decade-long accomplishments. It's worth a look.

CLICK THE CHART FOR A LARGER VIEW

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - 2011 Year End
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - 2011 Year End
Luxury Auto Brand Market Share In America - 2011 Year End
Bentley Motors Sales In America: 2002 - 2011
Porsche Sales In America: 2002 - 2011

Bentley Motors Sales In America: 2002 - 2011

Bentley sold vehicles to Americans at a significantly higher rate in 2011 than the company did in 2010. But that doesn't mean Bentley's selling rate in 2011 was anywhere near all-time-best status.

There's also some dispute as to how many cars Bentley Motors actually sold in the United States in 2011. With 1430 sales in 2010, Bentley's alleged year-over-year 32% increase does not take the company's 2011 sales figures to their purported total of 2021 cars. It seems as though this total was likely meant as a figure representing North American consumption (which certainly seems accurate) but has been taken by some in the media to indicate United States sales only

Regardless, Automotive News is reporting that Bentley USA sold 1877 cars in 2011, up 31.3% from 2010. Again, that's more than a decent rise - the market as a whole climbed just 10.3%. But not too long ago, the market was bigger, and so was Bentley's U.S. sales total. That's what the traditional GoodCarBadCar chart is for. Without examining it too closely you'll quickly see that Bentley's 2011 total, though ridiculously healthy for a company which only sells gigantic cars with lofty price tags, isn't what it used to be. 

In the last decade, Bentley sales peaked at 3990 in 2007. From that point to 2011, sales dropped 53%, falling consecutively in 2008 and 2009 before rising slightly in 2010 and, again, significantly in 2011.

CLICK CHART FOR A LARGER VIEW
2002 & 2003 TOTALS ARE ANDC ESTIMATES FROM THE PRE-CONTI GT ERA

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - 2011 Year End
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - 2011 Year End
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Porsche Sales In America: 2002 - 2011
Maserati Sales In America: 2002 - 2011

Minivan Sales And Truck Sales In America - December 2011 And 2011 Year End

December 2011 Minivan Sales Chart
Click Any Chart For Larger View

The best-selling minivan(s) in America in 2011 were the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan. Only they weren't.

The Toyota Sienna was the best-selling minivan in the USA in 2011, beating the Grand Caravan - just the Grand Caravan - by 562 sales, a scant 0.5% advantage. The Honda Odyssey wasn't far behind in third; Odyssey sales slid 1% to 107,068. 2010's best-selling minivan, by any definition, was the Chrysler Town & Country, but sales of that van plunged 16% in 2011. The overall new vehicle market was up 10%.

So what's this about the Sienna not being the best-selling minivan in America? Think about it: separating the Town & Country from the Grand Caravan is like separating the scoring achievements of Henrik and Daniel Sedin. One does not produce without the other. Together, Chrysler's two vans found 205,182 buyers in 2011. One might ask if Chrysler would have sold that many minivans if the two vans became a single van. In fact, Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne asked just that, and the response is becoming a policy - there'll only be one brand selling vans for the company in the near future.

Officially, yes, the Toyota Sienna was the best-selling minivan in 2011, and rightly so. It's GoodCarBadCar.net's favourite offering, aside from the too-small-for-most-buyers Mazda 5. But more accurately, the Drysler Grand & Town was America's favourite minivan in 2011.

Keep scrolling past the jump for a detailed look at the pickup truck segment's U.S. sales results in 2011. You can read more about the final pickup truck standings in this post from earlier in January. Monthly and yearly sales figures for every model currently on sale in North America can be found by accessing the dropdown menu at the top right of this page. Make use of that, it's a killer new feature.

Minivan	December 2011	% Change	2011	YTD % Change
Chrysler Town & Country	9619	- 1.6%	94,320	- 16.0%
Dodge Grand Caravan	11,879	- 16.7%	110,862	+ 7.3%
Honda Odyssey	11,489	+ 13.2%	107,068	- 1.0%
Kia Sedona	1865	+ 11.5%	24,047	+ 10.2%
Mazda 5	1206	+ 52.5%	19,155	+ 22.1%
Nissan Quest	1774	-----	12,199	+ 6792%
Toyota Sienna	11,564	+ 31.0%	111,429	+ 13.3%
Volkswagen Routan	533	- 57.3%	12,473	- 21.9%
---	---	---	---	---
Total	49,931	+ 6.7%	491,600	+ 2.5%

Truck	December 2011	% Change	2011	YTD % Change
Cadillac Escalade EXT	262	- 1.5%	2036	- 2.2%
Chevrolet Avalanche	2546	+ 20.9%	20,088	- 2.1%
Chevrolet Colorado	2970	+ 24.4%	31,026	+ 25.9%
Chevrolet Silverado	47,787	+ 12.4%	415,130	+ 12.2%
Dodge Dakota	408	- 60.3%	12,156	- 6.8%
Dodge Ram	26,013	+ 11.9%	244,763	+ 22.6%
Ford F-Series	68,278	+ 24.4%	584,917	+ 10.7%
Ford Ranger	6718	+ 57.3%	70,832	+ 27.9%
GMC Canyon	716	- 13.3%	9590	+ 20.0%
GMC Sierra	16,495	- 1.8%	149,170	+ 14.9%
Honda Ridgeline	1468	+ 21.2%	9759	- 39.5%
Nissan Frontier	5626	+ 48.7%	51,700	+ 27.9%
Nissan Titan	2386	+ 8.8%	21,994	- 6.1%
Suzuki Equator	164	+ 25.2%	2127	+ 47.0%
Toyota Tacoma	12,140	+ 10.7%	110,705	+ 4.2%
Toyota Tundra	9042	- 9.7%	82,908	- 11.1%
---	---	---	---	---
Total	203,019	+ 14.9%	1,818,901	+ 11.4%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Minivan Sales In America - December & 2012 Year End
Minivan Sales & Truck Sales In America - January 2012
Minivan & Truck Sales In America - November 2011
Minivan Sales In America - 2010 Year End
Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - 2011 Year End
Top 10 Best-Selling Trucks In America - 2011 Year End
Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In America - 2010 Year End

Sporty Car Sales And Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - December 2011 And 2011 Year End

December 2011 Sports Car Sales Chart
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The S2000, long since cancelled by Honda, found two buyers in the United States in December 2011. Odd, but true. In total, Honda sold five S2000s in 2011. This is fairly irrelevant information, so let's move on to 2011's bigger, more important sports car news.

2011's German roadster contest was won by the BMW Z4. Not far behind was the Mercedes-Benz SLK. Combined, Porsche's Boxster and Cayman found 3150 U.S. buyers. The Audi TT surged at the end of the year but wasn't a candidate for German roadster sales leadership.

The best-selling American muscle car in America was the Chevrolet Camaro. The Camaro beat the Ford Mustang by an astonishing 17,811 sales in 2011. The Mustang range is better than ever, but sales slid 4.4% last year.

There's one other car, besides the S2000, appearing in this month's first sporty car sales table that doesn't normally show up. Subaru USA broke down the Impreza's total sales, providing us with a chance to see how the WRX measures up. There are no Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution numbers with which to compare the WRX's (if you know where Evo sales figures can be found, do share), but the WRX did end 2011 with more sales than the... Chevrolet Corvette. Although the WRX reported a terrific year-over-year improvement, the Subaru still couldn't compete with the Volkswagen Golf GTI in terms of outright volume.

Keep scrolling for a look at the sales results of higher-priced sporting automobiles in the United States. Use the dropdown menu in the top right of this page to find specific monthly and yearly sales figures for any model currently on sale in North America.

Sporty Car	December 2011	% Change	2011	YTD % Change
Audi A5	1273	- 12.5%	15,385	- 6.1%
Audi TT	216	+ 238%	2236	+ 46%
BMW Z4	299	+ 51.0%	3479	- 8.5%
Chevrolet Camaro	6754	+ 20.3%	88,249	+ 8.5%
Chevrolet Corvette	1038	+ 6.0%	13,164	+ 4.3%
Dodge Challenger	3284	- 1.4%	39,534	+ 7.5%
Ford Mustang	5057	- 7.2%	70,438	- 4.4%
Honda CR-Z	564	- 35.6%	11,330	+ 116%
Honda S2000	2	+ 100%	5	- 94.1%
Hyundai Veloster	2188	-----	9284	-----
Mazda MX-5 Miata	339	- 3.7%	5674	- 10.9%
Mazda RX-8	26	- 72.6%	759	- 33.1%
Mercedes-Benz SLK	266	+ 133%	3220	+ 62.6%
Mitsubishi Eclipse	165	- 30.7%	7546	+ 76.2%
Nissan 370Z	449	- 38.2%	7328	- 28.3%
Porche Boxster	38	- 72.3%	1773	- 18.6%
Porsche Cayman	67	- 40.2%	1377	+ 4.2%
Scion tC	1587	- 0.4%	22,433	+ 47.5%
Subaru Impreza WRX	1257	- 5.6%	13,805	+ 65.9%
Volkswagen Eos	419	+ 16.7%	7533	+ 12.6%
Volkswagen GTI	1332	+ 24.6%	16,867	+ 22.6%
Volvo C70	274	+ 20.7%	4933	+ 12.9%

December 2011 Premium Sports Car Sales Chart
Click Any Chart For A Larger View

Sales of Audi's R8 have never been higher. And December 2011 was a notable month for the R8, as Audi's Lamborghini-derived supercar had its best month of the year, and its second-best month ever, after November 2008. The R8 did not prove to be a Porsche 911-beater, not even in this, its best year. 

Because of the BMW 6-Series's gigantic year-over-year boost, the R8 didn't come close to matching the 6er's total, either. BMW's 723 6-Series sales in December helped it to a 911-crushing experience, but year-to-date figures show the 911 to be America's favourite premium sports cars. And the new 911 will be an even better car. Audi would need a much-less expensive R8 model to compete with Porsche's basic Carrera and the 911's incredible sales totals.

December was the best month yet for the Lexus LFA. You'll also notice the Cadillac XLR in the table. It's there just to show its 12 2011 sales - no XLRs were sold in December. Nissan's GT-R beat the Audi R8 by 149 sales in 2011. The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG was an increasingly popular proposition; the Mercedes-Benz SL and CL less so. And Dodge Viper sales shot up to 36 in December. Dodge must be finding leftover Vipers in the same lot Honda's finding S2000s.

Premium Sporty Car	December 2011	% Change	2011	YTD % Change
Audi R8	133	+ 11.8%	1145	+ 43.3%
BMW 6-Series	723	+ 933%	3903	+ 61.4%
Cadillac XLR	-----	- 100%	12	- 93.6%
Dodge Viper	36	+ 50.0%	197	- 49.7%
Jaguar XK	152	+ 14.3%	1738	- 18.7%
Lexus LFA	10	-----	62	-----
Mercedes-Benz CL-Class	57	- 59.0%	943	- 8.9%
Mercedes-Benz SL-Class	99	- 42.8%	1449	- 39.2%
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG	86	+ 79.2%	722	+ 44.7%
Nissan GT-R	35	- 7.9%	1294	+ 47.5%
Porsche 911	423	- 16.9%	6016	+ 4.9%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC
Clearly GoodCarBadCar is not suggesting that the cars in the two tables above are all direct competitors. Establishing categories among cars as unique as even the Audi TT and Porsche Boxster has never pleased a single reader, so cars have been lumped together so you can simply see how buyers looking for sports cars, roadsters, hot hatches, convertibles, GTs, and wanna-be sports cars spend their money. Greater categorization of cars would only lead to problems that automakers create by not isolating model-specific sales figures: we don't know how many M3s BMW has sold or how many Civics are Si models, for example. The numbers we do have are listed above.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Sporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - December & 2012 Year End
Sporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - January 2012
Sporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - November 2011
Sporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - 2010 Year End
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - 2011 Year End
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - 2011 Year End

Large Luxury Car Sales And Large Luxury SUV Sales In America - December 2011 And 2011 Year End

Although December's leadership trophy was handed to the BMW 7-Series, America's large luxury segment was, in total volume terms, led by the Mercedes-Benz S-Class in 2011. 

2010's second-place Lexus LS dropped to third spot behind the 7-Series. Sales of the four leading cars all slid in 2011. The Lexus LS's drop was the worst, but Porsche Panamera sales fell 11.1% to 6879, not much better than half what Porsche was able to achieve with the Cayenne SUV.

The 50,939 sales achieved by the six cars in the category (excluding the similarly vast but much less expensive Hyundai Equus) mean overall large luxury car sales fell 1.4% in 2011 despite the Audi A8's monstrous year-over-year increase and the Jaguar XJ's notable gains. 

Large luxury SUV sales results for December and 2011 as a whole can be viewed further down the page. Make use the dropdown menu at the top right of this page to find historical sales figures for all these models and every car, truck, and SUV currently on sale in North America.

Large Luxury Car	December 2011	% Change	2011	YTD % Change
Audi A8	678	+ 35.1%	5700	+ 275%
BMW 7-Series	1219	+ 19.0%	11,299	- 7.8%
Jaguar XJ	384	- 31.2%	5235	+ 22.4%
Lexus LS	1056	- 30.3%	9568	- 22.1%
Mercedes-Benz S-Class	1073	+ 10.7%	12,258	- 9.9%
Porsche Panamera	476	- 32.0%	6879	- 11.1%

Its 329-unit lead over the Cadillac Escalade at the end of November wasn't solid enough to deliver victory to the Mercedes-Benz GL at the end of the calendar year. Admittedly, Cadillac has three Escalades with which to do battle. 

The best-selling Escalade is the regular-wheelbase 'Slade. With 59% of the sales, that Escalade's 15,079 are good enough for second place among jumbo lux sport-utes, but not nearly enough to fend off the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class. All three Escalade family members suffered year-over-year declines in December and in 2011. The Avalanche-based Escalade EXT was down just 1.5% in December and just 2.2% in 2011.

Compare that with Mercedes-Benz's significant year-over-year boosts. The G-Wagen was up 29.6%, the GL-Class climbed 26.1%. This all occurred in an overall market which grew 10.3%. 

Large Luxury SUV	December 2011	% Change	2011	YTD % Change
Cadillac Escalade & Escalade ESV/EXT	3271	- 14.2%	25,503	- 5.1%
Infiniti QX56	1735	+ 7.8%	13,428	+ 12.7%
Land Rover Range Rover	970	+ 1.4%	9761	+ 11.6%
Lexus LX	324	- 40.7%	3167	- 20.5%
Lincoln Navigator	1009	+ 16.5%	8018	- 2.8%
Mercedes-Benz G-Class	55	- 34.5%	1191	+ 29.6%
Mercedes-Benz GL-Class	2578	+ 27.2%	25,139	+ 26.1%
Toyota Land Cruiser	165	- 22.5%	1662	- 8.0%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC

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Large Luxury Car & SUV Sales In America - December & 2012 Year End
Large Luxury SUV & Large Luxury Car Sales In America - January 2012
Large Luxury Car & Large Luxury SUV Sales In America - November 2011
Large Luxury Car & Large Luxury SUV Sales In America - 2010 Year End

Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - 2011 Year End
Small/Entry Luxury Car & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America - December & 2011 Year End
Small Luxury SUV & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In America - December & 2011 Year End