The Ford F-Series pickup was the best-selling vehicle in the U.S.
in 2009. (photo by Ford)
December's new car sales were the highest of any month in 2009, with many key models picking up significant volume and most automakers posting a sales gain over December 2008, but it wasn't enough to rescue the entire year.
The Ford F-Series full-size pickup and Toyota Camry midsize sedan were yet again the nation's favorite vehicle and car, respectively, both December and throughout 2009.
Ford also saw strong success from its redesigned Fusion midsize sedan, which jumped from 17th place in 2008 to a slot on the top-10 best-selling list of 2009, and its Focus compact and Escape midsize weren't far behind. The Escape was also the best-selling SUV in December, unseating the Honda CR-V that itself had stolen the crown from Ford's Explorer several years ago.
General Motors, meanwhile, had an excellent month for its Chevrolet Malibu midsize, which beat out the Fusion and Nissan's Altima in December to be the country's third-best-selling midsize sedan, behind the Camry and Honda Accord. The Chevrolet Equinox compact/midsize SUV also did well at over 12,000 units -- a record for the model -- and the compact Chevrolet Cobalt's sales improved from abysmal to just mediocre. GM did, however, see its best-seller -- the Chevrolet Silverado pickup -- slide below both the Toyota Camry and Corolla last month even as its own sales jumped significantly month-to-month. (see sales charts below the article)
In other Ford/GM news, the automakers' ongoing rivalry between the Mustang and Camaro retro muscle cars saw the Ford inch closer to the sales of its rival, narrowing a once-mighty gap to just over 1,000. This Mustang sales increase comes even as Camaro sales stay strong at 7,500 last month and in the same month that Ford announced it would give massive upgrades to next year's Mustang.
The top-ten list seems mostly familiar for the total of 2009, but some major changes in December suggest 2010 might be an interesting year for auto sales. See the two sales charts below:
| Sales ranking: | 2008 | 2009 |
| 1. | Ford F-Series: 515,513 | Ford F-Series: 413,625 |
| 2. | Chevrolet Silverado: 465,065 | Toyota Camry: 356,824 |
| 3. | Toyota Camry: 436,617 | Chevrolet Silverado: 316,544 |
| 4. | Honda Accord: 372,789 | Toyota Corolla: 296,874 |
| 5. | Toyota Corolla: 351,007 | Honda Accord: 290,056 |
| 6. | Honda Civic: 339,289 | Honda Civic: 259,722 |
| 7. | Nissan Altima: 269,668 | Nissan Altima: 203,568 |
| 8. | Chevrolet Impala: 265,840 | Honda CR-V: 191,214 |
| 9. | Dodge Ram: 245,840 | Ford Fusion: 180,671 |
| 10. | Honda CR-V: 197,279 | Dodge Ram: 177,268 |
| 11. | Ford Focus: 195,823 | Ford Escape: 173,044 |
| 12. | Chevrolet Cobalt: 188,045 | Chevrolet Impala: 165,565 |
| 13. | Chevrolet Malibu: 178,253 | Chevrolet Malibu: 161,568 |
| 14. | GMC Sierra: 168,544 | Ford Focus: 160,433 |
| 15. | Toyota Prius: 158,884 | Toyota RAV4: 149,088 |
| 16. | Ford Escape: 156,544 | Toyota Prius: 139,682 |
| 17. | Ford Fusion: 147,569 | Hyundai Sonata: 120,028 |
| 18. | Toyota Tacoma: 144,655 | GMC Sierra: 111,842 |
| 19. | Pontiac G6: 140,240 | Toyota Tacoma: 111,824 |
| 20. | Toyota Tundra: 137,239 | Volkswagen Jetta: 108,427 |
| Sales ranking: | November 2009: | December 2009: |
| 1. | Ford F-Series: 30,894 | Ford F-Series: 48,209 |
| 2. | Toyota Camry: 27,385 | Toyota Camry: 34,946 |
| 3. | Chevrolet Silverado: 22,101 | Toyota Corolla: 34,220 |
| 4. | Toyota Corolla: 21,899 | Chevrolet Silverado: 33,301 |
| 5. | Honda Accord: 17,239 | Honda Accord: 28,238 |
| 6. | Nissan Altima: 15,490 | Honda Civic: 22,319 |
| 7. | Ford Escape: 15,149 | Chevrolet Malibu: 19,374 |
| 8. | Honda CR-V: 13,955 | Ford Escape: 19,156 |
| 9. | Ford Fusion: 13,774 | Ford Fusion: 18,852 |
| 10. | Honda Civic: 13,652 | Honda CR-V: 18,686 |
| 11. | Chevrolet Impala: 12,375 | Nissan Altima: 18,643 |
| 12. | Toyota RAV4: 11,512 | Toyota RAV4: 16,742 |
| 13. | Chevrolet Malibu: 11,113 | Ford Focus: 14,205 |
| 14. | Ford Focus: 10,196 | Chevrolet Impala: 13,613 |
| 15. | Ram Pickup: 9,787 | Chevrolet Equinox: 12,711 |
| 16. | Toyota Prius: 9,612 | GMC Sierra: 12,144 |
| 17. | Chevrolet Equinox: 9,587 | Ram Pickup: 12,014 |
| 18. | GMC Sierra: 8,371 | Lexus RX: 11,815 |
| 19. | Hyundai Sonata: 8,178 | Toyota Prius: 11,775 |
| 20. | Dodge Grand Caravan: 8,171 | Hyundai Sonata: 10,485 |
Comments
God that is an ugly truck....and overpriced, too big, too thirsty, underpowered, and too heavy.
And the capability numbers that Ford claims are not only false, but unsafe. What anyone sees in this truck is beyond me. It's a dud.
Best looking, best value, most reliable, tax dollar free, obama free... ect....
P, you are just plain wrong. I tow almost a half ton more than the max, and she tows just fine. Hell of a lot better than my Silverado ever did.
FORD TRUCKS ARE THE MOST TRUCK FOR ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY, NEXT ARE CHEVY,DODGE,GMC. AND IM A MOPAR GUY, BUT FACTS ARE FACTS, AND I HAVE FRIENDS THAT HAVE ASIAN TRUCKS AND THEY ALL ARE DEAD OR DIENG AT COMPAREABLE MILEAGE TO DISTANCE
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