By the Numbers - 2009

Most automakers giving themselves a pat on the back for a strong sales performance in December should take a second look at the books. A good month of sales to finish off a crappy year still equals a crappy year of sales. The chart below makes this perfectly evident, as only three individual brands and no multi-brand automakers managed to make it through 2009 selling more vehicles than they did in 2008. Not surprisingly, Subaru, Kia and Hyundai (in that order) were the three brands to post an overall sales increase in 2009, with Subaru posting a double-digit rise of 15 percent. With 216,652 sales overall, Subaru now sells more vehicles in the U.S. than Volkswagen and Mazda, two direct competitors with larger lineups.

Though no multi-brand automaker can claim a sales victory in 2009, you might be surprised to learn that Ford Motor Company with its Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo brands performed the best. FoMoCo sales in 2009 fell 15 percent, a smaller drop than any of its competitors. Toyota Motor Company sales (Toyota and Lexus combined) fell over 20 percent, but the Japanese juggernaut still managed to beat Ford in number of vehicles sold (1.77 million to 1.68 million).

The rest of the industry's performance can be viewed in the chart below. Note that there were 308 selling days in both 2008 and 2009, so the percent change in volume sold will equal the percent change in the daily average sales rate.

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Brand/Company	Volume %	Dec. '09	Dec. '08	DSR* %	DSR Dec. '09	DSR Dec. '08
Subaru	15.43	216,652	187,699	15.43	703	609
Kia	9.75	300,063	273,397	9.75	974	888
Hyundai	8.29	435,064	401,742	8.29	1,413	1,304
Volkswagen	-4.34	213,454	223,128	-4.34	693	724
Audi	-5.75	82,716	87,760	-5.75	269	285
Ford	-14.34	1,445,742	1,687,731	-14.34	4,694	5,480
Mercedes-Benz	-15.34	190,604	225,128	-15.34	619	731
Volvo	-15.96	61,435	73,102	-15.96	199	237
Mini	-16.37	45,225	54,077	-16.37	147	176
Lexus	-16.96	215,975	260,087	-16.96	701	844
Nissan	-17.81	689,014	838,361	-17.81	2,237	2,722
Honda	-18.63	1,045,061	1,284,261	-18.63	3,393	4,170
Toyota	-20.61	1,554,174	1,957,575	-20.61	5,046	6,356
BMW	-21.12	196,502	249,113	-21.12	638	809
Mazda	-21.29	207,767	263,949	-21.29	675	857
Lincoln	-22.79	82,847	107,295	-22.79	269	348
Mercury	-23.24	92,299	120,248	-23.24	300	390
Porsche	-24.35	19,696	26,035	-24.35	64	85
Chevrolet	-25.35	1,344,629	1,801,131	-25.35	4,366	5,848
Buick	-25.43	102,306	137,197	-25.43	332	445
Acura	-26.84	105,723	144,504	-26.84	343	469
Infiniti	-28.23	81,089	112,989	-28.23	263	367
Jeep	-30.61	231,701	333,901	-30.61	752	1,084
GMC	-31.09	259,779	376,996	-31.09	843	1,224
Cadillac	-32.31	109,092	161,159	-32.31	354	523
Pontiac	-33.31	178,300	267,348	-33.31	579	868
Dodge	-33.34	522,686	784,113	-33.34	1,697	2,546
Smart	-40.72	14,595	24,622	-40.72	47	80
Mitsubishi	-44.85	53,636	97,257	-44.85	174	316
Chrysler	-47.18	177,015	335,108	-47.18	575	1,088
Saab	-59.38	8,680	21,368	-59.38	28	69
Saturn	-61.35	72,660	188,004	-61.35	236	610
Hummer	-67.09	9,046	27,485	-67.09	29	89
COMPANIES
Ford Mo Co	-15.39	1,682,323	1,988,376	-15.39	5,462	6,456
Nissan NA	-19.05	770,103	951,350	-19.05	2,500	3,089
American Honda	-19.46	1,150,784	1,428,765	-19.46	3,736	4,639
Toyota Mo Co	-20.18	1,770,149	2,217,662	-20.18	5,747	7,200
BMW Group	-20.27	241,727	303,190	-20.27	785	984
General Motors	-30.07	2,084,492	2,980,688	-30.07	6,768	9,678
Chrysler Group	-35.90	931,402	1,453,122	-35.90	3,024	4,718