U.S. Auto Sales By Brand – August 2011

American car buyers acquired new vehicles in August 2011 at a rate which was 8% better than it was during the same period of last year. Through two-thirds of 2011 new vehicle sales are up 11%. 

In scanning the table below which lists every automaker competing for attention in the United States, Ford is clearly the main beneficiary of new vehicle buying decisions. The Blue Oval brand, and we’re not including Lincoln here, owned 15.6% market share in August. General Motors, the collection of four brands, grabbed 20.4% of the overall market. Chevrolet sales topped 150K on 15.8% gains. 

No automaker reported better year-over-year gains than Mitsubishi and Jeep. Only 10 out of 36 auto brands posted declines, the worst being Jaguar’s 42.7% drop. Of those ten brands, eight were Japanese. Toyota made gains in Canada, but south of the border, the same could not be true. Toyota sales were down from July levels, as well, despite a market which grew, albeit scarcely.

The best-selling luxury brand in America in August was BMW. All was not well for the Munich-based manufacturer, however. Sales at BMW’s Mini brand slid harshly, down 29.7%. This may be just a bump in the road – Mini remains up 26.7% through the first eight months of 2011. But it’s strange that Mini, with three versions of its normal Cooper as well as the SUV-lite Countryman, only beat the Fiat 500 and 500C by three sales. Then again, Canadians acquired way more 500s than Minis in August.

This is the U.S. Auto Sales By Brand post for August 2011. There will be plenty more sales data where this came from, so check back often over the next few days and weeks.