Sporty Car Sales And Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - 2010 Year End

2010 will not be a year soon forgotten by lovers of the Chevrolet Camaro. Finding 81,299 U.S. buyers was one thing, doing so at the expense of the Ford Mustang is another.

Ah, but here's the good news for Ford Mustang lovers. Mustang sales were up 10.6% in 2010. So Chevrolet wasn't exactly debiting Ford's account when selling Camaro after Camaro after Camaro. Together, Chevrolet's Camaro and Corvette along with Dodge's Challenger and Viper, the Ford Mustang, and the Cadillac XLR, topped 205,000 sales in 2010. That U.S. sales figure compares rather nicely against 110,347 sales of the 22 other models in the two Graphs below.

GoodCarBadCar.net has clearly come out in favour of the Ford Mustang, particularly the V6-engined Mustang, by naming it to 2011's The Good 12. It's still worth mentioning that the vast majority of these cars aren't boring, and it's not just because they lack rear doors or because they have large engines under their hoods or because many are convertibles. GoodCarBadCar.net wants boring cars cut out of the marketplace. For the most part, the cars in these two Graphs are exciting first and foremost because they feature individualized styling. The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG sounds like a 1960s muscle car being shot out of a Saschen class frigate, and that's a good thing. But isn't it wonderful that the SLS AMG looks nothing at all like the Nissan GT-R or Porsche 911 or Audi R8. The same could be said of the like-it-or-loathe-it Honda CR-Z: it sure doesn't appear similar to the Volkswagen GTI or Scion tC. 

Now we're not suggesting you flip a coin and choose any one of these cars - the Mitsubishi Eclipse should be avoided and you really should try a Ford Mustang in V6 or V8 form regardless of your Chevrolet predilections - but it's nice to know that in this era of stifling environmental concerns and Chapter 11s, you can buy spectacularly unique four-wheeled machines. 

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Sporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - January 2011
Sporty Car Sales & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - December 2010
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - 2010 Year End
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Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - 2010 Year End

A tough December wasn't enough to knock the Ford Fiesta off its year end throne as the United Kingdom's best-selling car. Beaten by two Vauxhalls last month, the Fiesta was never in serious danger of not being the UK's most popular car, even if Americans haven't yet given the Fiesta a chance to popularize on the other side of the Atlantic.

There are two Fords among the UK's ten best-sellers in 2010. There are also two Volkswagens, two Vauxhalls, two BMWs (really, there are), one Peugeot, and one Nissan. You won't be surprised to learn that the two Volkswagens compete respectively with the two Fords and the two Vauxhalls. So that's six smallish cars which combined to sell 442,494 units in the UK, or 22% of the whole UK new vehicle market.

Speaking of which, UK car sales were up 1.8% in 2010 to a still-low total of barely more than 2 million. Ford was the number one brand with 280,364 sales but the Blue Oval's market share fell by two percentage points. Vauxhalls market share was up slightly to 12.18%. Volkswagen, the next-best-selling brand, held 8.6% of the new vehicle market in the UK. Add Audi's total to Volkswagen and the two form a 274,483-sale juggernaut that doesn't quite beat Ford but does handle Vauxhall easily. BMW/Mini sold 153,312 vehicles. Lotus sold 577, Aston Martin 1080, Peroduo 761, and MG 282. 

Here are the Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK from 2010.

Rank	Car	2010	2009
#1	Ford Fiesta	103,013	117,296
#2	Vauxhall Astra	80,646	67,729
#3	Ford Focus	77,804	93,517
#4	Vauxhall Corsa	77,398	84,478
#5	Volkswagen Golf	58,116	57,187
#6	Volkswagen Polo	45,517	n/a
#7	Peugeot 207	42,185	48,037
#8	BMW 3-Series	42,020	39,029
#9	Mini	41,883	39,866
#10	Nissan Qashqai	39,048	25,776

*Source: MTI, SMMT

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - 2011 Year End
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - January 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - December 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - 2010 Year End
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - 2010 Year End

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - December 2010

The UK car market, a fraction the size of the U.S. car market, managed to snap up 4560 Ford Fiestas in December. In the U.S., sales of the Fiesta reached just 5212. Think those folks Across The Pond might prefer smaller cars?

Normally the strongest seller in the United Kingdom, December 2010 punched the Fiesta down to number three as Vauxhall had a strong month, taking out Ford as the number one brand. The Vauxhall Astra, the successor to a car we knew as the Saturn Astra, was the best-selling car in the UK in December. Its smaller sibling, the Vauxhall Corsa, squeaked in ahead of the Fiesta for #2 spot. You can see all this for yourself in the list below, so here are a few other notes on the UK car market's December. By the way, if you've got the data to replace the "n/a" sections of the chart below, leave a comment and the Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK list will undergo quick adjustments.

Aston Martin found 71 buyers in the UK in December. Dodge sold 23 vehicles. Fiat's market share fell 1.33 percentage points to 2.29% on 2839 sales. Ford sold 13,953 vehicles; Vauxhall 16,548, Volkswagen 10,828, BMW 7373. In total, the UK new vehicle market was worth 123,817 sales in December, down from 150,936. Compared to non-scrappage scheme volume in December 2009, volume was actually up 4.8%.

Rank	Car	Status	December 2010	Last Month	December 2009
#1	Vauxhall Astra	↑	5377	4700	6268
#2	Vauxhall Corsa	↑	4737	3684	4759
#3	Ford Fiesta	↓	4560	6488	7877
#4	Mini	↑	4236	n/a	3859
#5	Ford Focus	↓	3831	5537	7339
#6	Volkswagen Polo	↑	3724	3421	n/a
#7	Volkswagen Golf	↓	3267	5220	5523
#8	Nissan Qashqai	↑	2841	2555	2759
#9	Vauxhall Insignia	↓	2587	3915	n/a
#10	BMW 3-Series	↓	2477	3890	3017

*Source: MTI, SMMT

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Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - 2010 Year End
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - December 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - November 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - January 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - December 2010

Sporty Car Sales And Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - December 2010

There are two possible angles to covering the Audi sports car sales story. Here's the first: the Audi R8 isn't supposed to sell in large volumes, and though you may argue that 119 sales doesn't constitute large volume status, you should remember that the R8 costs no less than $114,200 and sells in numbers similar to the whole 4-car Ferrari range. Here's the second angle: the Audi TT isn't supposed to be an ultra-mega-niche-volume car. Of course, the TT isn't the type of car that's going to sell with Toyota Camry-like figures, but the TT should at least seem competitive with the BMW Z4 and Mercedes-Benz SLK. Yet lately, it has not, as The Good Car Guy explained last month. 

On a final Audi-related note, you have the Audi A5 and S5, a shockingly effective combo that made successful cars like the Volkswagen GTI and Nissan 370Z seem unpopular in December 2010. U.S. sales of the A5 nearly reached 1500 in December, a spectacular level for a sporty German coupe priced from $36,900. So the TT's lack of current popularity has nothing to do with its four-ringed badge. U.S. pricing for the 2011 Audi TT starts at $38,300.

In other news, Cadillac XLR sales dropped 97.7% to 1 in December 2010. Porsche Cayman sales were off 46%, down to 112. The Chevrolet Camaro topped the Ford Mustang in the final month of the year, as well.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Sporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - December & 2011 Year End
2010 Year End Sales Of Sporty Cars & Premium Sporty Cars
Sporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - January 2011
Sporty Car Sales & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - November 2010
U.S. New Vehicle Market Share By Brand - 2010 Year End

Minivan Sales In America - December 2010 And 2010 Year End

The Chrysler Town & Country was the best-selling minivan in America in 2010. For the month of December, the Town & Country ceded its title to its partner in crime, the Dodge Grand Caravan. On the surface, you might say the Honda Odyssey narrowly missed out on becoming America's best-selling minivan by year end, but that would be missing the point in a fairly major way.

Combine the sales of the Town & Country and Grand Caravan - as you should, they're the same van from the same company with different trim and grilles - and the Fiat-run Chrysler Group beat American Honda by almost 14,000 sales in December and nearly doubled the Odyssey in year end Sales Stats.

What about The Good Car Guy's favourite, the Swagger Wagon, aka Toyota Sienna? Sienna sales were up, an unusual feat at Toyota USA in 2010, at a rate of 17%. But even if Odyssey sales had remained flat (which they didn't, Honda posted a gain of 8%), the Sienna's 17% increase wouldn't have been enough to overcome the Honda. 

For the record, the 2011 Chrysler Town & Country has a base price $30,995, Grand Caravans will go up from $24,995, the 2011 Toyota Sienna starts at $24,560, the redesigned 2011 Honda Odyssey is priced from $27,800. Nissan will take another crack at the North American minivan market with another the uniquely designed effort. The 2011 Nissan Quest has an MSRP of $27,750.

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Minivan Sales In America - December & 2011 Year End
Minivan Sales In America - January 2011
Minivan Sales In America - November 2010
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - 2010 Year End
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - 2010 Year End

Small Car Sales, Midsize Car Sales, Large Car Sales In America - 2010 Year End

The overwhelming sales superiority of the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla is more clearly seen at the end of the year than in any one month. You see, in any one month, the Ford Focus or Chevrolet Cruze or even the Nissan Sentra can put up a performance that'll lead the casual observer to believe the U.S. small car sales war isn't a two-man show. And in 2011 it may not be, what with the 2011 Hyundai Elantra and 2012 Ford Focus primed to gain momentum. But 2010's year end figures tell an unsurprising story: the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla/Matrix out-sell everything else by at least 87,000 units.

Then you have the Toyota Camry and its midsize rivals. There were months in 2010, December being the most recent, in which the Camry was not the best-selling midsize car. Yet by the end of the year, the Toyota Camry and its falling sales were still 16,423 up on the Honda Accord, its closest competitor. Paired with the Venza - as the Accord is always paired with the Accord Crosstour, and you see Toyota's advantage over Honda rise to nearly 64,000 units. All this as Camry sales were down 8.1% and Accord sales were up 7.4%. 

As was already mentioned when explaining the December 2010 large car sales results, how did Kia manage to sell that many Amantis? Sure, it's the lowest number in the group, but it's got to be one of the most egregious designs ever. On a more popular note, the Ford Taurus came roaring back in 2010 - sales were up 51%. That was enough to put the Taurus ahead of the Nissan Maxima. Will the big Nissan struggle with the new 2011 Infiniti G25 now present in the marketplace? The G25 starts at $30,950. The 2011 Nissan Maxima starts at $30,810.

Other 2010 Year End notes of interest: Kia Forte barely beats Kia Soul, Volkswagen Jetta tops Golf by more than 4-to-1, Ford Fusion beats Chevrolet Malibu by 20,449, Toyota Avalon sales were actually up 6.1% over 2009, the Toyota Venza beat the Honda Accord Crosstour 47,321 to 28,851.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Small, Midsize & Large Car Sales In America - December & 2011 Year End
Small, Midsize & Large Car Sales In America - December 2010
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U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - 2010 Year End
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - 2010 Year End

Small Car Sales, Midsize Car Sales, And Large Car Sales In America - December 2010

Quite often, in analysing a GoodCarBadCar.net Sales Stats chart, attention is paid to the vehicles with impressive percentage increases or large overall volume. Today, at least with the three Graphs you see below, let's change things up.

There's no denying now that the 2011 Ford Fiesta has caught on. It isn't yet able to conquer the much less-expensive Nissan Versa, and it's by no means the most popular small Ford, but the Fiesta is doing alright. Which leads one to wonder at the absolute lack of success found by the Mazda 2. Many believe it to be better looking; almost all reviewers say the Mazda is the better drive. So what's the deal? The same problem has afflicted Mazda as the Tribute has fought for sales in a class where the identical Ford Escape is part of the dominating class. American new car buyers generally ignore Mazda. Subaru sold some 30,000 more vehicles in 2010 in the USA.

Moving up a category, take a look at the low sales of the Honda Insight. Though the Insight's volume compares unfavourably with just about any similarly-priced car, there is one specific vehicle which shines a light on Honda's failure. The 2011 Toyota Prius starts at $22,800, $4600 more than the 2011 Honda Insight, but the Honda's price advantage accomplishes nothing. By the time U.S. Toyota dealers are about to sell their tenth Prius, American Honda dealers find their first Insight buyer of the month. 

Now, the Chevrolet Impala is no rival for the Cadillac DTS. On opposite ends of the full-size spectrum, the two vehicles are placed in the same chart because there really is no proper place for a few of the vehicles in the Large Car Sales chart. But there's one other vehicle which really stands out from the pack with its awful performance, the Kia Amanti. True, the Amanti is technically a dead car, Kia's introducing the Cadenza soon. The Amanti, however, should've been dead before Kia ever let it get out to dealerships around the world. One of the ugliest vehicles to ever reach production, the Kia Amanti was a member of The Bad 8 until Kia made clear they'd kill it off. Here's the crazy thing: somebody bought a new Kia Amanti in December. 

Check out the charts below for all the info on small car sales, midsize car sales, and large car sales in America from December 2010.

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Small, Midsize & Large Car Sales In America - 2010 Year End
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U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - December 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - December 2010

New Vehicle Market Share By Brand In America - 2010 Year End

With over 2.2 million new vehicle sales, General Motors was America's largest-volume automaker in 2010. Nearly one of out every five vehicles sold was a GM product. Ford Motor Company sold more than 1.9 million vehicles. Toyota Motor Corporation sold more than 1.76 million vehicles. Hyundai and Kia inched close to 900,000 total sales.

Twelve conglomerates controlled more than 98% of the new vehicle market in the United States. Approximately 45% of the market was Detroit-based: GM, Ford Motor Company, or Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep. Quick to point out that Subaru is now a mainstream manufacturer, The Good Car Guy acknowledges through this pie chart that Subaru only held 2.3% of the U.S. market in 2010, perhaps not as mainstream as the company's 263,820 sales make it sound.

As for the Germans, Volkswagen's vast empire only accounts for 3.3% of the U.S. new car market. BMW's market share is a few ticks above 2%, Mercedes-Benz, Maybach, and smart are behind BMW's control, a fate which is truly smart's fault; and to Mini's credit.

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U.S. Auto Brand Market Share Charts - December 2011 And 2011 Year End
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New Vehicle Market Share By Brand In America - November 2010
Canadian New Vehicle Market Share By Brand - 2010 Year End
New Vehicle Market Share By Brand In The UK - 2010 Year End

New Vehicle Market Share By Brand In Canada - 2010 Year End

Hyundai and Kia combined to out-sell Toyota, Lexus, and Scion in Canada in 2010. Though the margin of victory was slight, just 417 sales, this is a startling development that comes in a year in which Toyota Canada sales fell 16.2%. In market share terms, Toyota and Hyundai were in a statistical dead heat in 2010, both grabbing about 11% of the Canadian market.

This shines a light on Ford Canada's dominance. With more than 17% of the Canadian automotive market in Ford's hands in 2010, the Blue Oval was responsible for 267,871 sales. This means Ford's market share went up nearly two percentage points from 2009 while GM's Canadian market share fell almost 1.5 percentage points.

Overall Canadian new vehicle sales were up 6.6% in 2010. Compared with 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008, the Canadian new car market was still in a shrunken state. Passenger car sales were down 5.2% according to Desrosiers Automotive Reports; light truck sales were up 18.9% to form 54.5% of the overall market. 46% of the market was held by General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep. 

And Ford sales in America in 2010 were greater than the whole Canadian automobile market in 2010, and by quite a margin, too.

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Canada Auto Brand Market Share Chart - 2011 Year End

New Vehicle Market Share By Brand In Canada - January 2011

New Vehicle Market Share By Brand In Canada - November 2010

Canada Auto Sales By Brand - 2010 Year End

American New Vehicle Market Share By Brand - 2010 Year End

New Vehicle Market Share By Brand In The UK - 2010 Year End

Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - 2010 Year End

Last year, 93,379 sales positioned the Lexus RX as America's fourth-best-selling SUV. Slight sales growth in 2010 meant the Lexus RX fell back to tenth, not a terrible place for a vehicle which competes in a higher price segment and thus, by nature, a lower-volume category. Clearly then nothing happened to the Lexus RX. Other vehicles just cruised on by. 

Last year, the Nissan Rogue, Honda Pilot, Chevrolet Traverse, Kia Sorento, Ford Edge, and Chevrolet Equinox were all slower sellers in 2010 than the Lexus crossover. This year, Rogue sales jumped 29%; Pilot sales jumped 22%; Traverse sales rose 17%; Sorento sales went through the roof to the tune of 346%; Edge sales were up 34%; and Equinox sales were up an impressive 74%. 

That leaves the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, and Toyota RAV4 as podium placers. The RAV4 stood in stark contrast to Toyota's car division in 2010. Toyota car sales, including Scion, were down 10% in 2010. Toyota SUV sales, including the Sienna minivan, were up 20.4%. 

More to the point, the Honda CR-V keeps its crown as America's best-selling SUV. And no, the CR-V isn't much of a genuine sport-utility vehicle, but then again, the Mazda Miata is a convertible, the Toyota Camry is a four-door sedan, and we call them both cars. So give Honda a break. The CR-V out-sold bigger, more rugged competition and did so with respectable fuel economy and just four cylinders. 

Here are the Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America for 2010.

Rank	SUV	2010	2009
#1	Honda CR-V	203,714	191,214
#2	Ford Escape	192,026	173,044
#3	Toyota RAV4	170,877	149,088
#4	Chevrolet Equinox	149,979	86,148
#5	Ford Edge	118,637	88,548
#6	Kia Sorento	108,985	24,460
#7	Chevrolet Traverse	106,744	91,074
#8	Honda Pilot	102,323	83,901
#9	Nissan Rogue	99,515	77,222
#10	Lexus RX	95,790	93,379

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - 2011 Year End
Top 5 Best-Selling SUVs In America - 2009 Year End
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - January 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - December 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - 2010 Year End
Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In America - 2010 Year End
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - 2010 Year End

Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - December 2010

Despite a terrific performance in which sales jumped 79%, the Chevrolet Equinox wasn't able to land America's best-selling SUV crown in December 2010. Just imagine how strong General Motors would look if The Good Car Guy would include the GMC Terrain's 9303 sales?

The order of the top five didn't change from November 2010, as you can see in the status column. However, the Honda Pilot and Lexus RX made their way back into the Top 10 while the Nissan Rogue and Kia Sorento fell off the wagon. Keep in mind, Sorento sales were up 213% - it wasn't a bad month at Kia. Nissan Rogue sales were up 58.2%, not a horrendous result, either. 

Based on this listing of America's Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs, Americans clearly didn't show a conscious worry of rising fuel prices nor did they balk at vehicle purchases in a month when holiday spending is priority number one for many families. The top ten's total sales volume was up 25% from November 2010.

Rank	SUV	Status	December 2010	Last Month	December 2009
#1	Honda CR-V	↔	23,125	18,263	18,686
#2	Chevrolet Equinox	↔	22,764	15,387	12,711
#3	Ford Escape	↔	18,691	14,937	19,156
#4	Toyota RAV4	↔	17,486	12,306	16,742
#5	Jeep Grand Cherokee	↔	12,753	10,984	4097
#6	Lexus RX	↑	12,090	7235	11,815
#7	Ford Edge	↓	11,292	10,025	9463
#8	Toyota Highlander	↑	11,271	9156	9442
#9	Chevrolet Traverse	↓	10,523	9954	8864
#10	Honda Pilot	↑	10,377	7593	9184

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Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - 2010 Year End
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - January 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - November 2010
Top 5 Best-Selling SUVs In America - December 2009
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - December 2010
Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In America - December 2010
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - December 2010